Undercover
by Maja Elisabeth
Summary: Stella and Mac are going undercover to find out more about a suspect. How will they handle the case, and the growing tension between them? SMACked. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! I'm here with a new story... **

**It's like a drug, I can't stop write xD. But I hope not that's a bad thing..**

**I don't own the characters, English isn't my native language, all spelling mistakes grammarfaults is mine.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV**

I was going undercover to find out more about a suspect.

We didn't have enough evidence to arrest him, not yet.

So I decided to go undercover with Stella as a newlywed couple to blend in.

I've planned everything, we were going to move to the neighbourhood were the suspect lived, and from there try to find out something we could use against him.

I was convinced this work would pay off.

The only thing I hadn't fixed was talking to Stella about my plans.

I choose her to work with me because she's the only one I trust enough to do this with me.

"Stell, I have to ask you something" I felt very uncomfortable with this situation.

"Yeah" She said, leaning against the table in the break room.

"We need to go undercover" I said, and I could feel my cheeks turn to a light colour of red.

"Aww" Stella smirked "Are _the_ Mac Taylor blushing? I've done undercover before, successfully; Yes"

I coughed to try to hide my discomfort.

"Aw" She teased. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Actually it can be" I cleared my throat, and handled over the file. "Remember, I only ask you because I know I can trust you."

Stella gasped when she read the papers about the undercover work.

"We're supposed to be married?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're supposed to be Stella Taylor" I explained quickly. "But if you don't want to do this, or you feel uncomfortable with this…-"

"Don't worry about it Mac" Stella cut me off in the middle of my sentence. "And who knows? It might be fun" She smirked and walked away.

_It might be fun? What did she mean by that? _I wondered.

But I had to admit _Stella Taylor _sounded pretty nice to my ears.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Do you like where this is going. Sorry if I didn't write that much, because I was wondering if you guys think I should continue?  
Please Review! Thanks anyway for reading! /Maja**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I couldn't help myself from uploading another chapter, hope you don't mind...  
And yeah, I've got some complains on my grammar and such, and all I have to say to that: Well I'm sorry, but hey, I'm still learning, and I'm not so familliar to write in English. (I'm from Sweden) But, if you can't stand my language, don't read it then..  
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Stella's POV**

_Stella Taylor_, I couldn't get that sentence out of my head.

I was going to be Stella Taylor, and live with the man I always dreamt of sharing a home with.

This will probably only add some more fuel to my already burning fire.

My heart began to race in my chest.

_Oh damn Stella _I thought. _Get a grip! This is work, just work._

When accepted to go undercover everything happened fast.

Mac was ready leave the moment I said "yes"

He told the rest of the team that we would be away for a while.

And he actually put Danny in charge now.

I couldn't see that one coming.

*

Mac was supposed to pick me up at 8, which meant I had a few hours left to shower and get ready.

But there was no surprise I was only halfway finished with my packing when Mac arrived right on time.

I had recently showered, and my hair was still wet.

_How does he do that? _I wondered. _Always in time, and always being so perfect. _

"Do you need any help?" Mac asked.

"Yeah" I answered. "That would be good. All of my stuff I want to bring is on my bed; you can put them in the bag"

I thought that would be an easy thing for him to do.

I went back to my bathroom and continued to blow dry my hair.

When I finished, I went back to my bedroom and saw that Mac had neatly folded and packed everything as I asked for. Except for one thing, my underwear, my bras and panties.

"I…ahem.." He cleared his throat. "I thought you might want to that yourself." Mac made a small gesture to my underwear on the bed.

I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw that this situation was so uncomfortable for him.

I guess he hasn't even taken a second look at my underwear; he was not the kind of man who would do that.

"It's okay Mac" I laughed. "We're married, remember?"

That sentence made Mac's cheeks turn to an even brighter colour of red.

"Speaking of which" Mac said handling over a small jewellery box without looking at me.

_Aw, he's too cute when he's embarrassed and don't know what to do. _It's not often Mac Taylor doesn't know what to do.

I opened the small box to find a small, but delicate ring, with a single diamond in the middle.

"It's the small details that are important" Mac said as his face turned back to normal colour again.

I put the ring on my finger, and smirked over how well it fitted.

_Mrs Taylor _it sounded so good in my ears.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you like it? Want me to write more? Sorry if I write this after every chapter, but I'm intrested if there's someone who wants to read more, if there's not, well....  
Thanks for reading /Maja


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi, sorry for this chapter is a bit short.  
I've been thinking about getting a beta. But I don't know if I want to.  
If there's someone who wants just to read through my story before I publish it and correct my grammarfaults, I would love that!  
Please contact me if you want to do that! I would be so happy if so. **

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV**

Before I left to pick up Stella, I talked to Detective Robins; he was the head of this investigation. We double checked everything, security, how he would contact us, and such things.

"You and Detective Bonasera are _married_, remember that. Be convincing Mac. Almost over act it." He said with a smirk, and winked at me when he left my office.

_Why does everybody give me those small hints that I and Stella had something together? _

Yes, indeed, she's my friend, my best friend.

Danny had wolf-whistled and Flack had laughed his head off, when I had told them what kind of undercover work we were supposed to do.

Stella and I are just friends, and partners.

But sometimes I have to convince myself that too.

I know my feelings for her has grown stronger, and my need to protect her.

But I really don't know what it has grown into.

I hope this undercover work will help me figure out my feelings for her.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Thanks for reading. Please review if you think this is worth to continue, Maja


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello!  
New chapter. Hope you like.  
Big thanks to Jen (Shopping_luva91) Who read through this and corrected my grammarmistakes and such.**

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Stella's POV**

Before Mac arrived, I called Lindsay for a last minute pep talk.

Like everyone else, she knew about the undercover work, bur she was the only one who knew about my feelings for Mac.

We'd had a hard case, with lots of blood, cruelty and the need of revenge, and Lindsay had invited me over for a girl's night at her place.

After a few glasses of wine, we began to talk, and after a while she made me confess.

**Flashback.**

"_What's up with you and Mac?" Lindsay asked innocently and took a sip of the red wine. _

"_What are you talking about?" I put down my glass of wine on the table in front of me. _

"_Oh come on, even a blind person could see that you two are made for each other__," she smirked._

_I felt my cheeks turn to light pink; I hope she didn't notice it._

"_NO! No Lindsay, you got it all wrong," I said, trying to convince her the same thing I used to convince myself over and over. "We're just friends, close friends."_

"_You have to admit that he's hot__," Lindsay giggled. "I noticed how you looked at him when you accidentally saw him shirtless in the lockers a while ago."_

_Yeah, I remembered that pretty well. _

"_Okay… Okay," I said with my arms raised in defeat. "But even though I find him hot, it does not mean I'm in love with him...." _

"_Aw, come on" Lindsay cut me off. "How are you guys supposed to move forward if both of you keep denying it?" _

"_We're not denying anything. We're friends," I paused. "…What do you mean by 'both of you keep denying it? Lindsay?"_

"_Um…Well" Lindsay chuckled. "Mac said exactly the same thing when I asked him__."_

"_What?" I gasped._

"_No, Stella and I are nothing but friends__." She was now imitating Mac's voice, and I have to say that she succeeded pretty well. After that she broke into laughter. I started to laugh too, at her, and at the absurd situation I found myself in._

"_I can tell you, he was blushing__," Lindsay said and winked at me. _

"_No way" I said. "Mac Taylor never blushes."_

"_He only does when he talks about you__," she smirked. "Don't you think that is a little bit suspicious, Stell?" _

_I felt the alcohol in the wine slowly start to take over my body and mind. I was relaxed and enjoyed myself for the first time in a very, very long time._

"_Okay, okay" I giggled.__ "I admit it; I'm in love with Detective Mac Taylor." _

_There I go, I thought. I finally put words on the feelings I've kept hidden for so long._

_Lindsay gasped when the words escaped my lips. _

"_Linds, promise me that you won't tell anyone__." I leaned closer to her. "Promise me, this will be our little secret."_

_She nodded solemnly. _

_Suddenly I felt like I was back in high school, gossiping and chatting about boys with my girlfriends. The__ only thing that's different now is that I was talking about my boss, not a boy in my class._

**End of flashback. **

**__________________________________**

**Thanks for reading! Please review if you like it. . **

**Thanks/ Maja**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Another new chapter. I will not update for a while, because Jen are not home and can't answer my mails xD.  
So thanks to Shopping_luva91 I have a better language. haha.**

**___________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV **

I carried Stella's bags to the cab despite her loud objections from beside me.

"Someone tiny as you are shouldn't carry something heavy as their bodyweight," I teased her.

"Mac you don't have to," she whined.

"But I want to sweetheart," I emphasized _sweetheart, _which made her shut up.

_But hey, we're married; she was the one who pointed that out. Right? _

"Okay, if you insist." She laughed and sneaked her arm around my waist.

I could feel my body tense at her touch, and she noticed.

"Just play along, Mac," Stella whispered in my ear.

_God! I have to get used to her touching me in public.__ And I have to admit, it feels really nice. _

"You know," Stella started when we were standing on the sidewalk waiting for a cab to turn up, "we could get a dog."

"Why do you want a dog?" I asked, wondering why she brought it up.

"Well, I can have some company while you're at work," Stella said as she rested her head against my shoulder. "And plus, we get to spy on our neighbours without looking suspicious," she whispered softly.

"Okay, as you wish my love," I murmured when a couple of pedestrians walked by. "We'll get you a puppy then."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"What kind of dog do you want, Stella?" I asked when we were in the cab.

"I don't know, Mac," she replied. "A nice one with a lot of energy, so we can take it for a walk, all the time," she said and winked.

"Maybe a Jack Russell pup?" I suggested. "They're pretty small, but have a large amount of energy."

"It sounds good to me!"

"We'll go to a kennel then as soon as possible, honey."

"Great!" She said, snuggling closer to me. I took the opportunity to lay my arm protectively around her, and marvelled at how it just felt so _right_.

_________________________________________________________________

**Please review if you like. Doesn't matter if it's a long or short comment, love them all! **

**Thanks for reading /Maja**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi! I know I said I wouldn't update because Jen isn't at home. But I did anyway. This means my grammar and such isn't the best.  
So don't complain about it. (I've actually ran this story through an online grammar/spelling thing on the internet. But I don't know if it worked...)  
But look on the bright side - you got an fast update. But a shitty language.. Consider this.. **

**_____________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV**

"Please Mac" Stella whined in a childish voice. "Puppy. Now."

And as you all know, I can't say no to this woman.

"Yeah, sure"

"Aw, thank you Mac" She smiled the famous Bonasera smile, which probably could melt anyone's heart, mine too as well, no exceptions here.

*

"Aw, Mac take a look at this one!" Stella squealed, surrounded by at least eight puppies that were busy licking her face and climbing on her.

I have to say, I was a little bit envious of the pup that was closest to her chest, or should I say cleavage…?

"What do you think about this one?" She lifted a small pup.

And I have to admit, it was cute. It had the small spots of brown, which made a beautiful contrast to the white colour.

"Mac, can we take her?" Stella said and hugged the pup closer.

_Now I was definitely __envious. _

There was two pair of puppy eyes staring excited at me, one pair of green ones that belonged to Stella, and one pair of brown ones.

And who was I to say no?

Of course I couldn't.

"Yeah, Stell that would be perfect, we can take her home"

"You heard that baby girl?" Stella cooed in a voice I never have heard her use before. "We'll take you home… You would like that, don't you…? Yes you will" The pup started to lick every inch of her face, and the tail wagging like crazy.

*

We decided to walk home; it was a short distance from the kennel to our new home.

"What are you going to call her?" I curiously asked Stella.

"Oh, I don't know" She replied. "Do you have any suggestions Mac?"

"Vienna?"

"No… That's too snobbish for my little girl" She laughed and patted the dogs head.

"No it's not" I defended my idea.

"Yes it is" She insisted.

"Okay, what about Gertrude then?"

"What?!" Stella started to laugh uncontrollably. "Seriously?"

"What?" I said offended.

"I can't even pronounce it right…" She continued to laugh when she realized that I was serious about the name.

"Gertrude is Hamlet's mother in William Shakespeare's play in case you didn't know" I informed her slightly annoyed she had turned down all my suggestions so far.

"I know that Mac" She teased. "But was that the best you could come up with?" She chuckled.

I smiled this time; I couldn't stay mad at this woman for a long time.

"Okay, but I actually liked the Hamlet-idea of yours" She admitted. "But I prefer Ophelia, Like Polonius' daughter"

That was a name suggestion I could agree on, and the pup actually looked like a Ophelia.

"Okay, Ophelia it is" I confirmed. "Satisfied?"

"Incredibly" Stella nodded.

_Yeah, and I have to say I'm incredibly satisfied too.  
I'm going home with my new family to our new house._

_**__________________________________________________________**_

**Liked it? Please let me know. Review! I love them all even if it's a short one :D**

**Thanks for reading /Maja**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! This chapter is inspired by I'm being at home with a cold. And I hate it. (well I didn't have to go to school today, BUT I hate the cold-thing.)  
I've ran this through some sort of online grammar/spelling check on the net. But I don't know if it worked. HAHA x'D**

**SO! Remember I'm ill so make me smile and review !!**

**_________________________________________**

**Stella's POV**

This morning I woke up with a pounding headache, and finding it impossible to breathe through my nose. Add this to a fever that  
feels like you could burn up in any moment from now.

"Mac!" I cried and I was surprised at how raspy my voice sounded.

Mac had actually insisted on sleeping on the couch, although I  
had tried to convince him that it was okay to sleep both in the bedroom, in  
the same bed

In fact, I wouldn't mind.

I heard Mac run like a bullet towards the bedroom.

"Stella, what's wrong?" He said leaning against the door trying to  
open it with Offe under his left arm.

Yeah, we decided to call Ophelia Offe, it sounds good and we thought she'd  
find it easier to hear.

"I think I've got a cold" I whispered, my sore throat made it difficult  
to speak up.

"Oh, Stella" Mac sat down on the bed, letting Offe down at the same  
time.

She began to lick my face, crawled under the sheets and bit my toes.

All at the same time.

One second she was here, the second after she was there and then she was  
nowhere to be seen.

Mac chuckled at the excited and pup trying to catch her

"Woah.. Slow down there Offe, mummy's trying to rest here, take it  
easy" Mac cooed when he finally caught.

_Mummy_, I thought that feels and sounds good.

After playing around with Offe for a while, Mac put her down on the floor.

He put a hand over my forehead.

"You're hot Stell" He said, but when he realized what he just had said,  
he mumbled embarrassed "I mean… well.. you're warm, you have a fever."

If I wouldn't have a sore throat, I would probably be laughing my ** off  
right now, but sadly that's not the case here.  
"I'll get you some drugs Stella" Mac said and rose from the bed,  
followed by Offe who excitedly jumped up and down with every step  
Mac took.

"Stay in bed Stella!" He yelled at me when he heard that I tried to get  
out from the bed.

I hated being sick, I know very well how I looked when I was ill.

Horrible, a mess.

And now Mac was here to witness it all.

"Here" Mac gave me a glass of water and a pill. "This will reduce your  
fever"

"Thank you" I mouthed at him.

Moments after I dozed off into a light slumber and didn't open my eyes  
until Mac gently shook my shoulder.

"Humnj… what?" I mumbled incoherently.

"How are you feeling?" He whispered softly.

"Better thanks" I replied. "Fever's gone"

"That's good" He placed Offe in my lap. "Thought you wanted some  
company, she's been running around in the backyard the whole morning, so I  
think she's a little bit tired"

The small Jack Russel pup watched her mum and dad for a while, before closing  
her eyes and fell into sleep.

"Aw" I smiled "Isn't she cute?"

Mac nodded.

"I'm going to the lab for a while now" He explained "Danny's got a  
lead on a case we've been working on for so long"

"Oh, Okay"

"Take care Stell" He said and caressed my cheek, and I could feel my  
cheeks heat up. "Promise to be back for dinner, and I'll cook"

"Okay, sure" I whispered back.

"And Stella, rest now, promise me that"

"But Mac, I feel pretty okay actually" I complained.

"That's because you're on drugs. Don't get up from the bed. Rest"  
He said in his boss tone.

"Yeah, whatever" I muttered, pulling the covers over me.

__________________________________________________________________

**Yeah. And as I said, make me happy and send lots of reviews! (I have a fever!!)  
(poor me...)**

**Thanks for reading! Maja**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi! This one and chapter 7 was corrected by SuallenParker I forgot to mention that earlier. So I owe her big thanks :D  
She also came with suggestions and how I could change some stuff in the story, and I used her suggestions, because I'm not that creative to come up with something else HAHAHA x'D**

**THANKS SARAH! **

**___________________________**

**Mac's POV**

"_Stella you're hot_" I let the words slip out of my mouth.

God! That was so embarrassing. I let it slip without having a second thought on how to formulate it in a better sentence.

Oh, I'm sure she would have laughed if she would´ve been able too

In some way I found it nice and cosy to share a home with somebody, I'm not used to that.

Knowing you have someone to come home to after work, someone who is waiting for you.

That's a thing most people takes for granted, I did that too, with Claire.

I know, I would never let something like this happen to Stella and me... If this marriage wouldn´t just be a camouflage, I would show her how much I appreciate her everyday... All I can do now, is to show her how much I care about her as a friend.

I guess I should call her and see how she's doing.

I reached for my cell phone in my back pocket and dialled a number I knew by heart.

Stella answered after quite a while; I was on my way to hang up when she answered.

"Bonasera" She mumbled on the other line.

"Taylor" I corrected her. "Stella Taylor it is"

_Stella Taylor, _it fitted her, I have to say.

"You were lucky I that it had been me who called" I teased her. "If not you would have blown your undercover after.. hmm.. let me see." I glanced at my watch. "About 52 hours, and who said she'd done undercover work before successfully?" I couldn't help but mock her a little bit.

"Very funny Taylor" She whispered. "I guess you wanted something, or did you just call to annoy me?"

"I wanted to check if you were okay" I said.

"Yeah, I'm okay" She replied. "But oh, I almost forgot, can you stop by a supermarket or something and buy some cough drops for me? Will you?"

"Yeah, I will" I said. "And what do you want for dinner?"

"Oh, so I got to choose?" Stella asked. "That is very brave of you, my detective" I heard her laugh, or at least try to laugh as much as her sore throat allowed her to.

"So what do you mean by 'I'm brave'?"

She chuckled lightly before answering my question.

"You know I could say anything between oatmeal and entrecote if I wanted, and you would have to make it then"

"Stell, I can cook" I convinced her.

"You can?" She sounded somewhat doubting.

"Yes I can" I assured her.

"Let me be the judge of that" Even though I couldn't see her, I could picture her smiling right now.

"So what do you want for dinner?"

"Oh, I'm going to be nice with you right now. I'm going to choose something pretty easy to cook. Just because I'm nice."

"Oh, that was very generous of you Stella" I said quietly wondering what she would ask for.

_Actually, I was prepared to do some research on the internet, only to give her the dinner she wanted._

"Lasagna" She said.

I breathed out; lasagna isn't hard to cook at all.

"As you wish" I replied to her.

"And Mac" Stella said before we hung up. "You know I'm always one step ahead."

"What?" I said somewhat confused.

"Do you know why I answered my phone with 'Bonasera'?"

"Because you forgot" I suggested.

"No I didn't" She said in a teasing voice. "I checked the caller ID first" Then she hung up.

_Of course she'd checked out the caller ID before answering._

_Like she said, she's always one step ahead. _

_________________________________________________

**Well since I'm still having the feaver you can always cheer me up with an review! :D**

**Thanks for reading! Maja**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! A new chapter which has been corrected/read through by SuallenParker, she'd also came up with some ideas, and I liked them so they are somewhere here, I like it. **

**________________________________________________________**

**Stella's POV**

After a few hours of sleep with a snoring puppy beside me, I felt well rested. My fever was almost gone.

Mac´s warnings about not leaving the bed still ringing in my ears, I stood up. I´m not a child, I am able to appraise how much my body can take before needing rest again... He couldn´t honestly expect me to lay still, when there was so much left to do.

Offe, who had also gotten some hours of sleep, had regained her energy, and was now running around like crazy.

"No, no Offe!", I scolded her as I recognised the thing on which she was chewing now with great pleasure.

She'd found one of Mac's ties, his favourite one.

"Offe, Offe, please" I begged. "Let go of it."

She stopped for a while and glanced innocently at me with her brown eyes, before running out of the room with the tie hanging in her mouth.

I ran after her, chasing her all over the apartment.

I assume she thought it was some kind of game, and found it funny.

"Offe!" I muttered. "Come here! Bad dog!"

Offe ran towards me with sparkling eyes.

"That's a good girl" I told her, when I was about to take the tie away from her.

Of course she had other plans; she quickly turned around and bolted out from the living room.

"No, no, no Offe get back here" I mumbled. "That's Mac's tie, _daddy's _tie"

After two laps around the apartment chasing a crazy dog, Mac entered the room.

"Hello sweetheart, I'm home"

The first thing he saw was Offe running around with his tie in her mouth, quickly followed by me, chasing the dog.

"What the...?" Mac arched both his brows in obvious confusion. I could only imagine, what he must´ve thought as he saw me, the respectable officer, chasing after a small cute puppy like a maniac, but I could tell that he wasn´t amused at all.

"Hey.. Hey" Mac tried to cut in. "Stop that, both of you"

Before Offe and I could make it to the kitchen, Mac caught me in his arms.

"This doesn't exactly help you recover Stella" He told me sternly, I felt his strong arms around me, eventually for stopping me running after Offe.

"No, maybe not but..." I mumbled.

"I'll catch her" Mac said and squatted down.

He whistled something in a low tune, and called: "Offe, Come here!"

The pup ran immediately to him and sat down.

She allowed Mac taking away the tie from her mouth, which was now stained with drool and dirt from the dog, and the floor.

"Good girl" Mac praised her and patted her head. "Go on and play" He said then, and the dog ran off.

"Oww" I whined. "She's such a daddy's girl"

"Yeah" Mac smiled. "She'll be just as me when she grows up"

"I hope not" I teased. "One Mac Taylor is enough for the world."

"Stella, why don't you go back to the bed?" He asked.

"Because that's boring" I muttered.

Mac put a hand on my forehead.

"You're still warm" He commented.

"I would say so too, I just chased after a dog"

"Yeah, that's true, but if you had followed the doctor's directions, you'd still be in bed"

"Doctor?" I repeated. "You're referring to yourself now or what?"

"Maybe, maybe not" He smirked. "Go back to bed now Stella"

"Okay, as you demand _doctor_ Mac" I said.

___________________________________________

**Liked it? Please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hola! I noticed I had some readers from Spain, so I decided to write a little in Spanish. (just the Hola-thing...)  
And yes, this fic has been corrected by 2 people :D:D Both of them came with suggestions and lots of grammar changing haha. I'm bad at such stuff. höhö.**

**1. Shopping-luva91, Jen  
2. SullenParker - Sarah  
Worth to visit them both, I owe them big thanks, and fruit baskets and chocolate for Christmas I guess hahahaha.**

**____________________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV**

This time Stella went to bed without a fuss.

She must have been exhausted after chasing Offe all around.

I was glad that I had arrived home in time, before she wore herself out, though I was a little bit annoyed that my favourite tie is now ruined.

Guess we have to buy some toys for Offe.

I walked into the bedroom to check on Stella.

She was asleep in the bed as I had hoped, but she had kicked the blankets off her feet. I covered them back up for her, but she whined in her sleep and kicked them back off.

Chuckling, I made my way back to the kitchen, decided to prepare the dinner Stella had asked for - lasagna.

About 45 minutes later, dinner was ready to be served, so I prepared myself to go and wake Stella, but as I turned around, I saw her already leaning against the kitchen door. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, and she was wearing a big t-shirt.

I thought it was mine actually.

But it looked even better on her.

My t-shirt ended just above her knees, and revealed her long, gorgeous legs. I found myself staring at her, as a teenager looking at his crush in high school, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"How long have you been standing here?" I managed to say.

"For a while now," she said. "I wanted to see you cook."

"Why?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Because I thought it might be fun," she said and scratched her arm. "I thought you might burn something, and if you did, I wanted to witness it."

"But I didn't," I smirked.

"Yeah, I know."

"Disappointed, Stella?" I asked.

"At first I was, but then I realized I wouldn't get any food if you burned it, so, no I'm not disappointed," she laughed. Oh, I loved the sound of her laugh.

"Let's eat then," I said, pulling out the chair for her. She grinned at me, a silent thank you for the gesture.

I could tell the nap had done her some good. She seemed to have more energy, and the sparkle in her beautiful green eyes was back.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Well, I'm good, after the nap you forced me to take," she admitted.

"If that is what it takes for you to recover, I'll tie you down to the bed," I said without thinking. When my mind caught up with what I just had said, I was filled with embarrassment and my cheeks turned into a light red colour.

"Oh, honestly, Detective!" Stella exclaimed, laughing and teasing me when she saw my flushed cheeks. "I wouldn't mind."

_____________________________________________________________

**Gracias por leer. **Or I don't know if that's even correct Spanish! But hey! I'm just trying to be nice to the Spanish people xD!  
And this is a note to the **Spanish readers**: You can send your comment in Spanish so I can practice the language. And I will try to answer the best I can in the same language! And you can correct my grammar also if you want ^^  
Tack för att ni läste ! Snälla skicka en kommentar :)  
Thanks for reading, please review!  
I feel **so **proud of myself now, I've said the same thing it 3 languages now, but I guess only 2 of them is right HAHAHAHA

/Maja


	11. Chapter 11

**Hola! Cómo estas? Estupendo!  
Sorry for the wait, I had some stuff to do.  
Actually me and my horse are training for the dressage competition next weekend. So wish me luck! **

**Well, Jen was for the fight in the end, and Sarah was against it HAHA. And I was somewhere in the middle.. So I decided to keep the fight.  
Sorry for the ones who are disappoined and thinks it is crappy HAHA  
This chapter is a little longer xD Enjoy **

**Thanks to Sullenparker & Shoppnig-luva91**

Stella's POV

I woke up to the noise of kettles and saucepans clanging in the kitchen.

I got up onto my feet and picked up a discarded T-shirt from the floor, which was most likely dragged here by Offe.

I guess it's Mac's.

I decided to borrow it. He can't complain, especially since I'm the one who does the laundry around here.

I entered the kitchen quietly, so Mac wouldn't notice me and send me back to bed.

Secretly I hoped that he would burn something, so I could mock him about it the whole evening later.

But I had to admit; he was good at cooking. I should have suggested something more difficult to cook, I thought.

I watched while he cut the tomatoes and tossed the salad.

He had everything under control. Too bad for me, I couldn't make fun of him for that either!

But I also should have known better. If Mac couldn't cook, he wouldn't have offered to do it.

The explanation was simple and easy.

Mac turned around and saw me leaning against the kitchen door. I could feel his intense stare start to heat me up, but I tried to convince myself that it was only due to the fever.

"How long have you been there?" He asked.

"For a while now. I wanted to see you cook," I explained.

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you might burn something, and if you did, I wanted to witness it" I teased.

"But I didn't" He pointed out. "Are you disappointed?"

"At first I was, but then I realized I wouldn't get any food if you burned it, so no, I'm not disappointed," I laughed.

We sat down to the table; I could tell Mac had made a big effort by setting the table.

"So Stella, how are you feeling?" He asked.

I have to admit, Dr. Mac's advice had done some good. I might listen to him more.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine, after the nap you forced me to take," I said truthfully.

"Oh, if that's what it takes for you to recover, I'll tie you down to the bed" Mac said. He clearly hadn't thought before he spoke, but when he realized what he had said, his cheeks flushed and I couldn't help teasing him.

"Oh, honestly Detective," I smirked. "I wouldn't mind at all."

After a moment of stunned silence, Mac muttered something I couldn't hear and shoved a big piece of lasagna in his mouth, so he couldn't talk for a while. '_Smart move, Mac' _I thought and followed his example.

Both of us opened our mouths to say something when we were interrupted by the doorbell.

"I'll get it," Mac said and stood up.

I rose too, curious over who it could be at the door.

I froze when I saw who Mac had opened the door for; he must have known who it was.

He was the suspect we were here to find out more about. His name was Henric Edwards, and Mac was convinced he was responsible for the disappearance of his first wife. Mac was also sure he would strike again.

Now he was here on our porch, welcoming us to their neighborhood.

"Hi," Henric said. "I'm John Everett."

Mac and I exchanged glances. Of course he had a fake name.

"And I'm Linda Everett,"the blonde woman next to him said. "We live just across the street," she pointed to a small house.

"Oh, hi," Mac said and shook their hands. "I'm Mac Taylor, and this is my beautiful wife Stella Taylor."

I heard how he said beautiful wife and Taylor in another tone of his voice. It was barely noticeable, but I was aware of it.  
He made a small gesture to me.

"Hi," I said and walked towards them, but stopped by Mac's side.

"I have the flu," I explained. "So I'll just say Hi from here – I don't wanna make you guys sick."

"Oh," Linda said. "Well I hope you will recover fast. When you do, you're more than welcome over to our place," she smiled.

"That would be nice," I said and saw an opportunity to find out more about Henric … or should I say John.

"Mac told me you were a housewife too, so I guess we have a lot of things in common then"

I nodded, though I had no idea about housework and cleaning. I can barely cook anything without ruin the whole kitchen. So yes, I guess we have a _lot to talk about._

"So I thought we could do something maybe?" Linda asked.

"Of course, that would be great!" I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"I noticed that you two have a dog," Linda said and looked around, probably hoping to see Offe.

"Yeah we have," Mac cut in. "A small pup. It was you who wanted a dog. Am I right, honey?" He sneaked his arms around my waist. And I allowed myself to rest my head on his  
shoulder.

"Maybe we could go for a walk or something some day?" I suggested.

"That would be lovely," Linda replied.

"Sweetheart," John said. "I guess it's time for us to go home now."

"I'll see you later then…" I said after them.

*

"This is a really good opportunity Mac!" I said excitedly after he closed the door.

"Yeah," Mac muttered.

"What's the matter Mac?" I asked him when he fell silent. "What is it?" I asked again, worried that he might have seen something I hadn't.

"No Stella," Mac whispered, barely audible. "I don't want you to go."

"What?!" I said, surprised.

"I don't want to take the chance that you might get hurt," Mac said and looked at me with his blue eyes.

"What... No … Mac, I won't… What... Why do you think..?" My words stumbled out from my mouth. I was so shocked I couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence.

"Stell, I saw the way he looked at you!" Mac spat out. "I could tell by the way he looked at you what he wanted to do with you!"

"Aw, come on Mac," I hissed. "Give it a break. You don't think I can do this?"

"I saw how he looked at your legs and … chest, Stella." Mac abruptly stood up.

"Mac please!" I begged him. "Don't you trust me? I can do this!" My voice rose as I started to become more angry.

"I don't want you to get hurt!" He shouted and left the kitchen. "You are not allowed to go anywhere near that house!" Mac whistled at Offe who came running from the living room.

"We're going for a walk," Mac said, slamming the door and leaving me in the middle of a deafening silence.

_________________________________________________________  
**Liked it? Please review.  
Te gusta? Dígame por favor entonces!  
As I said, I like the figh, so does Jen HAHAHAH xD  
/Maja**


	12. Chapter 12

**a/n: Hi! Yeah I know it's been a while since I updated, I hope you're not mad at me... xO.  
This one has been read through by SuallenParker, and she also squeezed in some of her ideas, they are here somewhere...  
Sorry for the chapter's length... I will work on that to the next chappie as a plaster on the wound.. (HAHA I just translated it over from Swedish, Don't know if that's the correct thing to say.. ...)**

Mac's POV

I ran, I ran as fast as I could, first just to get away from our neighborhood, then I continued to run.

I felt how the built up stress and anger left me.

I didn't stop until I noticed Offe began to look tired.

I couldn't let out my anger and frustration on her, she hadn't done anything wrong.

I sat down on an empty bench in the dim lit park; Offe climbed up too on the bench and rested her head in my lap.

After a while, she fell asleep.

The running must have worn her out.

I took off my jacket and tucked her in; I knew Stella would kill me if Offe would get sick.

Oh, Stella, right. I know I acted unprofessional, I practically forbid her to do her job, and she was here to help me find out more information.

We got an excellent opportunity and I turned it down.

Stella is the strongest woman I know, to see her being so vulnerable and fragile like she was after the Frankie incident was the worst thing I ever seen.

One more thing like the Frankie-thing would be too much for her.

Stella has a breaking point, like everybody else.

I can't allow her to reach that point if I see any chance to avoid it.

It´s not that I fear that she would never recover.

It´s more that I couldn´t take the sight of her being hurt, and feel my own helplessness and the guilt that always kicks in when I failed to protect her.

So I can't let her go to that house without me by her side.

I know she can handle every situation, but the image of her lying lifeless on the floor in her apartment is still stuck inside my head, making my heart ache every time I think about it.

And as I saw Henric starring at Stella with that weird expression, that dangerous glimmer in his eyes, something inside me snapped.

I know, I overreacted, but I couldn´t help myself, couldn´t suppress the strong urge to protect her.

I sighed, how could I get myself in such trouble?

I only pretended to be married to Stella for a few days now and my mind already messed up .

Shaking my head slightly to clear my head, I rose from the bench and headed home with Offe in my arms, she snored lightly.

I don't know for how long I've been away.

I didn't bring my cell phone or watch.

It could have been anything between half an hour and more.

The lights were still on in our house, so I guessed Stella was still awake.

"Stella?" I asked, carefully testing the waters, as I entered the living room. "I'm home"

"I can see that" She replied from the couch.

I could tell that she was still mad at me.

She rose from the couch and spotted Offe on my shoulder.

"Ow" Stella cooed. "Poor baby" And took her away from me.

"Mac" Stella said accusingly. "What have you done with her?"

"Nothing" I replied offended. "We were just out for a walk as I said before"

"Good night Mac" Stella said, shot me a last glare and exited the living room with Offe on her shoulder and headed to the bedroom.

_I guess I'll sleep on the couch tonight again._

____________________________________________________  
Liked it? Please review *Does the puppy-eyes*


	13. Chapter 13

**Hej! Here I am with another chapter :D  
This is SOOO much longer than the other chapters I've written, because I decided to reward you guys for all the nice reviews :D Thank you so much!  
SuallenParker - Sarah have corrected this and helped me along the way. THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

Stella's POV

After a few hours of sleep with a snoring puppy beside me I woke up, Offe was still sleeping.

Whatever Mac did with her yesterday must have worn her out completely.

I made my way out to the kitchen and started the coffee to get my daily amount of caffeine.

Offe must have noticed the lack of warmth in the bed, and came running out from the bedroom and sat down on the floor in front of me.

"Good morning to you" I cooed. "Yeah, what did daddy do last night?"

I looked at her, and wishing that she could talk.

It was still early, but Mac had already left for work. I guess he didn't want to face me, right now.

I sat down on the floor patting Offes head while I waited for the coffee to be finished.

"It looks like it's just the two of us now" I told to her. "Would you like to go out for a walk later?"

I took a sip of my coffee and opened the fridge to get some milk in my coffee and food for Offe.

"Yeah, you'll get your food too" I assured her as she jumped up my leg to get my attention.

My fever was gone, I just coughed a little, and I felt like I had more energy now.

I dressed quickly and headed out with Offe; she was ecstatic and acted like she'd never been outside before.

I chuckled at the small puppy that was running around like a maniac on the big lawn outside our house.

I brought a tennis ball with me, and Offe found a great pleasure in chasing after the ball.

I wondered how she could possibly found it funny to chase after a ball for the tenth time in a row now.

"Hello!" Someone called from across the street.

I turned around, a little confused.

"Hi" Linda said and waved her hand while she walked close towards me.

"Oh, Hi" I replied, and smiled. This was an excellent opportunity I had in front of me, and it would be a shame if I wouldn´t take it.

I decided to ignore Mac's warnings that still echoed in my head, I was here to do my job, and now I'm doing it.

He can't yell at me for doing my work, I thought.

"Good morning" Linda said and I saw how her eyes were glued to Offe who were still chasing after the ball. "It's a cute pup you got there"

"Yes she is indeed"

I guess Offe noticed her new gained attention and enjoyed every second of it, I just laughed at her.

But I've also started to worry about what's going to happen to her when our undercover work was done.

In my apartment there's no pets allowed, and I'm not so sure if Mac wants to have her at his place.

After all, I was the one who wanted a pup, and I don't have the heart to sell her, or give her away.

But I know Mac liked Offe as much as I do, but I don't know if he's willing to admit his love to a over energic puppy with serious concentration problems.

Already after a few days, she has become like a family member to the already made up family of mine.

"Her name is Ophelia, right?" Linda's voice broke through my messed up mind.

"Yes it is" I shook my head to clear my mind. "But we decided to call her Offe, it's easier, both for her to hear, and us to call" I explained.

"I see" Linda said. "Well I've always wanted a dog, but John doesn't seem to want it. I don't know why actually."

I guess it's because he doesn't know what to do with the dog when he's killed you, I quickly thought before I could stop myself.

"Do you want to go for a walk with us?" I asked her and made a gesture to Offe who were busy barking at the little birds in a birch nearby.

"Yes that would be a pleasure" She said, and I whistled at Offe who surprisingly came running towards me, I guess she didn't remember that she only obeys Mac.

We started to walk, I haven't been outside and checked out the neighborhood since I had the flu and Mac practically locked me inside our house.

It was a nice neighborhood for a child to grow up in, small houses with flower-beds in front of the houses, and the flowers were almost blooming, and it looked so calm and peaceful.

But that was only a frontage; it was only me and Mac who knew more that the others.

If we didn't do anything about the situation here, this place could easily turn into something from a child's worst nightmare.

"How are you?" Linda asked. "You're so quiet"

"Oh, it's nothing really" I said, but then I changed my mind. "Mac and I had an argument last night." I added in hope to get her to tell me some details about her marriage with Henric too.

"That's nothing to worry about" Linda said and smiled lightly. "Every married couple has their own problems."

"Okay" I agreed slowly. Well, I have at least told her half of the truth, we weren't married, but we had a fight.

"So for how long have you and John been married?" I asked, and was hoping that she would say some useful things that we could use in our investigation.

"We've been married for two years now." She replied. "But we dated for a while, and after one and a half year I moved in with him"

"So for how long have you two known each other?" I asked.

"For about three years now." Linda said and played with her hair. "Why?"

"Just wondering" I mumbled and I fell quiet.

If Linda had met John for about three years ago, his wife Amanda, who had disappeared without reason, had still been alive.

Did Linda know about his former wife?  
Had she met her? There were so many questions in my head, which I wanted to have answers to.

"Stella" Linda spoke up and waved her hand a little. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Ehm…" I had been lost in my own thoughts again, and hadn't noticed that Linda had been talking me. "No, sorry I didn't, I apologize"

"It's okay" She said and smiled. "Don't worry about the fight you and Mac had, it'll be alright. And yeah, I wondered for how long you and Mac have known each other"

"Well… um" My brain was working in ultimate speed, should I make something up, or tell her the truth. "We have known each other for quite a while now. About ten years, but both of us were so afraid that we would lose our close friendship, so no one made a move"

This is not something I just made up; this is exactly how I feel about our relationship. I like him more than a friend, but I'm also so scared of losing him if he doesn't feel the same way that I do, it can be a really uncomfortable for both of us. I can't risk that.

"Oh" Linda said, sounded pretty surprised. "You know each other pretty well then"

I just nodded.

"You two are perfect together" She smiled. "Mac seems to be such a sweet guy."

"Yeah he is…"

"So how did you meet John?" I asked her so I didn't have to talk about Mac and my relationship.

"Well, I actually met on a dating site on the internet." She blushed.

"Oh I see" It suddenly occurred to me that Linda looked much like Amanda, I don't know if it's a coincidence, or not.

"How did you and Mac meet?"

"Oh…" I needed to come up with something fast. "We worked together for a while"

"So you have worked earlier?" She asked curious.

Shit, I thought. Good, why do I always say the first thing that pops up in my head?

How will I get myself out of this now…?

"You haven't been a housewife all your life?" Linda looked at me.

"Ehrm" I cleared my throat for another lie. "Well, we worked for the same advertising agency some years ago"

"But you decided to quit because..?"

"Because I wanted to take care of the home, and when we get kids someday-"

"Are you two trying to get kids?" Linda cut me off.

"Ehm… Well someday" I shrugged.

"You two might get trying then so our kids can play together" She smiled.

"What?" I gasped. "Are you pregnant?"

She nodded and smiled.

Shit, I thought. Isn't enough with her life in danger, now there's two lives involved. This is just great!

"Oh, Mac and I better get started then" I forced myself to smile.

"Do you want to come over for a cup of tea?" Linda offered, and pointed to her house.

"Yeah, that would be nice" I replied, and saw another chance to get some more useful information. "I'll just leave Offe home, then I'll come over to you."

"No, it's okay. You can bring Offe with you"

"Are you sure?"

"When John sees her, he can't say no to get a pup" She smiled.

"Oh, well in that case then" I nodded and followed her to their house across the street from ours.

Mac's voice was still ringing in my head, but I have already disobeyed him, so why stop now?

___________________________________________________________________________________________  
**PLEASE REVIEW!** **It makes me happy and inspires me to write more! (and faster xD)  
Thanks for reading. /Maja**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello! Sorry for the delay with the updates xD. I have a lot of things to do before the Christmas vacation -_-'  
Well this chapter is corrected by SuallenParker, and now by Shopping-luva91 also  
_________**

**Mac's POV**

I know I owe Stella an apology for my behaviour earlier. I was out of line. I overreacted.

It will be an unbearable situation at home if she is still mad at me. If she stays mad at me. We were supposed to work together on this.

"How are things going?" Flack asked me in the break room.

"Well… Okay I guess." I replied to him.

Flack just stared at me, and then began to laugh.

"No it isn't," he smirked. "You're lying!"

I glared at him.

"Oh, it looks like you invaded a dangerous area there, Flack!" Danny teased.

The two men then left the break room, laughing.

Is it that obvious? I wondered. I guess I have been a little bit absent-minded.

I've been thinking about the best way to make it up to her.

Making my way back to my office, I decided it would be best if I just grabbed some files and went home.

The door was locked when I arrived home, and all the lights were off.

Stella and Offe were nowhere to be found.

At first I thought they were out for a walk, but when an hour passed without them showing up, I grabbed my phone and dialed her number.

After a few moments of dialing sound, she picked up.

"Stella," She answered.

"Where are you?" I muttered, somewhat relieved that she had picked up, but also a little annoyed that she hadn't told me where she'd gone. She hadn't even sent me a text message!

"I'm at John and Linda's place," she told me. "Just across the street, you know."

Of course I know, I thought and felt how my heart began to pound faster.

"Great Stella," I hissed. "So you didn't listen to me, you went down there by yourself. Just perfect."

"Mac please," she sighed. "I really don't want to have this conversation again."

"Hold on a sec," she said, and I heard another voice. Another woman talking to Stella.

"Are you talking to Mac?"

"Yes, I am." I heard Stella say.

"Tell him to come over too." Now I recognized the female voice, it was Linda's. "You can both stay for dinner!"

"Did you hear that Mac?" Stella said to me. "We're invited for dinner, and it would be a shame to not accept it."

I heard her emphasize the last sentence.

"Fine," I grumbled. "I'll be over in a few"

I felt a lot calmer now that I knew Stella wouldn't be alone there anymore.

"Hi there," Stella said when I entered Linda and John's living room.

"Hi," I smiled at her, pretending everything was alright between us.

"Come and sit down," she said, and made some room for me on the couch.

I sat down and couldn't resist the urge to lay my arm around her tiny waist.

"Mac, what are you doing?" She hissed quietly so Linda wouldn't hear, and tried to struggle free.

"Nice to see you too, sweetheart." I smirked and received an angry glance from her.

I know that annoying Stella isn't really the best way to make peace with her, but I couldn't stop myself mocking her just a little bit.

Stella sighed and rested her head against my shoulder when she heard Linda was on her way to the living room.

She glanced at me and whispered "You are so going to pay for this later, Taylor."

"Oh, hello Mac" Linda said when she walked in to the living room. "So nice of you to come and join us, I've heard a lot about you."

"Hi Linda," I replied with a smile. "Glad to see you again."

I was quietly wondering what Stella had told Linda about me, I hope good things.

"Where's John?" I asked her.

"He'll be home in any minute now," Linda smiled.

"Do you want some help in the kitchen, Linda?" Stella cut in.

"No, it's okay; I have everything under control," Linda answered and headed to the kitchen.

"Stell," I whispered in her ear. I paused and gathered enough courage to continue. "I owe you an apology. I overreacted last night… I don't know what had gotten in to me. I'm so sorry Stella. I just don't want you to get hurt, I worry about you. I can't stand to see you get hurt like…"

"Mac," she cut me off and moved even closer to me. "Shh…." Stella murmured and put a finger on my lips to prevent me from speaking. "Stop rambling, I'm the one who does that."

"So we're good?" I needed to be reassured.

"Of course we are, we're fine." She confirmed and hugged me tighter.

"But I'm still not willing to let you go down here without telling me," I whispered.

"Way to go and ruin the mood, Mac." Stella teased. "We'll talk about this later, at home"

"Oh, am I disturbing anything?" Linda asked shyly from the doorway.

"No of course not!" Stella and I said in unison.

"May I use your bathroom?" Stella asked and rose from the couch.

"Yeah, sure. Go down the hallway and then to the left," Linda explained.

"Thanks."

"How's work?" Linda asked after a while.

"Good," I replied. "Though it's been a little bit busy the last few days."

"Advertising agency, huh? Stella told me."

"Yeah" I confirmed.

"How's are things around here?" I asked her, hoping that she might say something useful.

"Everything's fine here," she paused. "Stella told me you two were trying to have children."

What? I thought, are we?

"Yeah…" I mumbled. I didn't know what to say.

"It would be so nice if our kids could play together!" Linda squealed.

I heard Stella's heels clicking against the floor; she was on her way back. Thank God!

I don't know what to say, or what Stella has already said to Linda.

"So, what did I miss? Fill me in." Stella sat down next to me.

"Nothing, we were just talking about kids." Linda played with her wedding band on her finger.

I couldn't help but wonder how much longer she'd be able to do that.

"Kids…? Yeah." Stella started to play with one of her curls that had fallen out from her ponytail.

I felt very uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. It was enough with I was pretending to be married to her, and now we were apparently trying to have kids…?

"Do you have any ideas for names?"

"Ehrm…." Stella mumbled. I saw that she was equally as uncomfortable as I was. "Well, not Mackenzie or anything like that."

"Good choice," I pointed out.

"I know," Stella teased and poked my side.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**EHEHE, well I have actually finished the 15:th chapter already xD  
All I have to do is to push the "update" button... Rewiev or I won't push the buttom*evil laugh* (ewww... I'm refering to a Shugababes song so... yuck.. no offense but..)  
Well to be clear: please rewiev, it really makes my day!  
And yeah, I've been thinking about writing a sequel to this when the case is solved. What do you think?  
/Maja**


	15. Chapter 15

**Helloooooo! Thank you all for the rewievs, it really makes my day!  
This chapter is corrected by SuallenParker, she's the best! (she answers all of my weird questions and reads through my stuff without complaining xD)**

Stella's POV

I rested my head against Mac's shoulder and snuggled closer to him.

God, it felt so good, almost too good to be true, but then again this isn't real.

It's just an act set up by the two of us. I sighed and shook my head lightly.

"What's wrong?" Mac asked when he noticed that my body tensed and met my eyes with his blue ones.

"Nothing" I said, and shook my head once more

"Sure? You're not still mad at me right?"

"No, I'm not" I replied, and when Mac heard the words left my mouth I felt how he relaxed underneath me.

"Good" He whispered in my ear. I could feel his heated breath upon my neck; it made me shiver a little.

"Hello!" Someone called from the door. "I'm home"

"Oh, John's home" Linda declared and headed to the hallway to meet her husband.

Well here we go; I thought and exchanged a look with Mac who rose from the couch, and I followed his example.

"Hi Mr. Everett" Mac greeted and reached out his hand.

"Please call me John" Henric, John or what you want to call him smiled.

"Hi" I waved my hand.

"Oh, Mac, you've also brought your beautiful wife Stella. You look stunning as always" John smirked at me, and I saw how Mac clenched his teeth to prevent something inappropriate  
slip from his mouth.

"Yeah right" He mumbled.

"Thank you" I smiled. I know I shouldn't annoy Mac more than I've already done, but no, I can't help it; it's so fun to watch him so flustered. "Nice to see you too."

"Dinner's ready!" Linda announced and led us all to the table in the kitchen.

She had made us something with pepper, I could smell it. But also, it didn't smell burned like it would do if I should have cooked something.

"This looks nice Linda" I said and sat down between Mac and John around the circle shaped dinner table.

"I hope you like" She put down the steak on the table in front of us.

Linda sat down and handled over a knife to cut the meat with to John.

"Be careful now John" She smirked to her husband.

I noticed some scars and scratches on his hands when he reached out to take the knife.

I guess Mac must have seen it too, I glanced at him and then back to John's hands.

Mac was the first of us to open his moth "John, you never told me what you worked with" He asked. "What are you doing?"

"Well" John paused. "I'm a chemist, testing new products before they are released to the drugstore, checking it for potential side effects and how risky it is."

"Oh, okay I see" Mac nodded.

Oh right, is _that_ what you call it when you smuggle drugs out and over all of the country.

John had a quite history of being the largest of the drug dealer in this part of the city.

It would be a pleasure to put him behind bars; it was just only one thing that bugged me. What would happen with Linda, and now the baby?

"Yeah" Linda smiled. "You're so good at what you're doing honey. He's just being promoted"

"Really" I said. "Congratulations. What are you being promoted to?"

"Well" John cleared his throat. "I'm now the head of what's coming out to the markets and not."

He was very convincing, if I didn't knew anything about his past, I could have swore that he was innocent.  
But that's not the case here.

He was a good liar, John had probably practiced his speech about his job a several hours in front of the mirror to make it look trustful– Of course Linda had bought it without doubt.

"It sounds so interesting" Mac said and glanced at me, I guess we were thinking in the same lines.

I studied his hands once more as he reached out to get the potatoes from Linda.

They had several scars; some deep and some of them just looked like he had scratched himself on something.

"Why all this scars on your hands?" I asked innocently.

"They are from my childhood, I grew up in a tough neighborhood" He shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it"

"He had a hard time, lost his parents as a young boy" Linda filled in.

"Linda, don't" John hissed. "I don't want to hear or talk about it."

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I apologize."

"She's curious by nature" Mac said and laughed at my face expression.

"I see" John said and gave me a strange look.

"Mmm" Mac said with a piece of Linda's steak in his mouth. "Honey, you should learn to cook this, it's so delicious"

I shrugged, I cook? That was a funny joke Mac.

"But it seems pretty hard" I tried.

"No, it's not at all" Linda smiled. "I can write down the recipe for you"

"That was very generous of you Linda" I said. "But it's not difficult?" _I can't cook, I can't cook… _echoed in my head._  
_  
"No, no it's not. I can teach you if you want" Linda offered.

"It would be great; you really need to learn to cook something else" Mac cut in and smirked at me.

"Yeah, if it wouldn't be any trouble for you" I replied shyly, and quietly cursed Mac for bringing up my cookin skill issues.

"Of course it wouldn't be" She said. "Besides, it's fun to have something to do when John isn't at home."

"Okay" I replied. "So when?"

"Well, I'm free tomorrow. As always" She added.

"Tomorrow will be just fine" I replied.

After a few hours of talking and eating we excused us and went back to our house together with a sleeping Offe on Mac's shoulder.

**Okay! I have christmas vacation now, which means I have more times on my hands to write. (Now I expect an Hooray! Or YAY! - reaction from you guys..)  
And I have actually finished the 16:th chapter, so be kind and rewiev so that chapter maybe will be updated sooner... who knows ? (I know I'm evil but I want rewievs so badly xD)  
/Maja**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi! Thank you for all the wonderful rewievs. *blushes*  
SuallenParker has corrected my grammar, and helped me a lot with this chapter (:  
and yeah, I'll change this story rating to a T, if something more weird than usual pops out from my head... And because I'm paranoid...**

Mac's POV

When we were outside of the house Stella muttered "Mac, what the heck were you talking about in there?"

"What?" I wondered and hoped that she still wasn't mad at me.

"About the cooking thing!" She snorted.

"I gave you an opportunity because you thought I spoiled your first one" I said and looked confused at her, acting all innocent.  
Who knew, maybe she would buy it and not tear my head off because I made fun of her cooking...

"Exactly" She sighed. "Have you ever seen me cook?"

I haven't seen Stella cook, ever. She'd always order some takeout food, or not eat at all.

"I can't cook Mac!" She muttered. "I will blow my undercover in about two minutes in that kitchen!"

Right, that´s why she thought I would mess up my cooking! She drew conclusions about my cooking skills based on her own skills.

I bit down my bottom lip to suppress a smirk. "It can't be that bad." I assured her.

"Yes it can actually!" She hissed. "I never cook, I never had a mother that taught me how to cook. "

"Come on Stell" I tried to not laugh as I pictured her standing in a kitchen in front of the oven and wearing an apron.  
A very odd picture but also a nice one.

"I can teach you "I offered and noticed that Offe had fallen asleep on my shoulder, she drooled a little but I didn't mind. She'd already ruined my ties, so why not continue with my shirts also?

"Sorry" She shrugged. "I'm hopeless in the kitchen."

"I can't let you blow your undercover." I stated, trying to look stern. "You're going to cook"

"Good luck with that Mac" Stella laughed. "As I said, I'm hopeless."

"We'll see about that" I wondered if I could make her wear an apron while cooking... That picture would be too good to miss...

"Do you have the house key?" She asked me as we arrived at our door.

"Yeah I have"

"Where?"

"In my pocket" I replied. "Can you take Offe so I can get it?"

"No, it's okay. " She answered with a smirk. "I´ll get the keys out of your pocket and you keep on holding Offe. I don´t want to wake her up..."

I arched a brow. "You don´t want to wake her?"

"Nope." She said and ran her fingers through Offe´s fur in a slight caress. "She´s dreaming so peacefully, so why wake her?"

"You do realize that Offe is a dog and not a child, you know?" I mentioned frowning.

Stella giggled. "Of course. But look at her: She´s so cute and quiet..." Her hand, which still fondled Offe´s fur, touched mine.  
I shuddered at the brief contact with her warm soft fingers.  
Lucky me, she didn´t noticed, she just continued talking: "And if we do wake her, she would start running around like a maniac again, and she'll keep us up all night again, I´m  
afraid..." She smiled at me.

"Fine." I gave in with a sigh. Her smile always convinces me, and I would really like to sleep a whole night without Offe jumping around on the couch where I was trying sleep. "I hold  
the dog, you get the keys."

"Great." She grinned at me in victory. She just loves to win an argue against me."Which one?" "Which what?" Confused I looked at her.

Stella rolled her eyes. "Which pocket, Mac.", she explained smirking. "In which pocket is the key?"

"Front"

Before I could even think about the consequences, which my last sentence could cause, Stella had already slipped her hand in my pocket; Jesus! Stella´s hand in my pocket. I tensed, and my heart began to race.

Stella´s warm soft hand in. My. Pocket.

I tried to keep my breathing calm and closed my eyes to hide the want in there, but so I just concentrated myself more on her warm hand...  
Damn it. In a flash I opened my eyes again, starring at the front door, trying to distract myself from her soft hand by counting the wood plates of the door, but the loud pounding of my own heart made it impossible.

I hope that she couldn't hear my speeding heart too.

I felt her hand against my leg. It took more than forever for her to get my keys, not that I minded, but...

"Got it" She winked, turned around and unlocked the door.

'Wheow.' She didn´t act like she noticed what she just had done to me. I took a deep breath full of relief. And another one. And then a deep breath to calm down my racing heart.

"Mac, are you coming?" Stella interrupted my meditation. She already stood in the living room, looking back at me in confusion.

Damn, I cursed myself. I must´ve been standing in front of the open door for a few minutes only breathing.

"Yeah…I´m coming..." I mumbled somewhat ashamed and followed her into our house, still a little bit shaky of Stella's presence. I hadn't felt like this in years.

The feelings I thought I'd buried a long time ago where coming up to the surface again.

I recognized this feeling from before, when I'd met Claire for the first time

"So Mac, do you want to watch some TV?" Stella asked while I put down a still sleeping and snoring Offe on the couch.

"No, we're going to cook" I replied.

"What?" Stella raised an eyebrow. "We'd just eaten in case you didn't remember"

"I can't let you blow your undercover" I told her. "I'm going to teach you how to cook."

"Are you sure Mac?" She laughed. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into now"

"I'm sure"

I headed to the kitchen with Stella behind me.

I really wished we had an apron for Stella, just to see her wearing one would be worth all the possible upcoming trouble, that letting Stella cook could lead too.

"Hnn… An apron" I mumbled without realizing I was thinking out loud.

"Mac…?" Stella spoke up. "Did you just say something?"

"Ehm…? What?" I startled. "No nothing"

"You said something about an apron?" She insisted.

"No I didn't" I felt how my cheeks began to heat up, and to cover it, I put my head inside one of our kitchen cupboards.

"What are you searching for by the way?" Stella asked curiously and glanced over my shoulder.

"Well… I'm looking for the tomatoes…" I mumbled.

"In one of the kitchen counters?" She arched an eyebrow. "Mac, even I know that the tomatoes are stored in the fridge…"

* _________*  
**Please rewiev ! It makes me so happy (:**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hola!  
I owe a big thanks to SuallenParker for correcting my grammar and helped me out with this chapter ^^. I really like ! **

Stella's POV

"Can you get the pasta from the pantry?" Mac asked.

"Mhm" I answered and spotted the pasta on one of the selves.

I reached out to get it, but Mac had placed it on a shelf about one half inch beyond what I could reach.

I muttered, standing on my toes in a try to get a little bit taller. I wouldn't lower myself to ask Mac to get it for me; I know I can do it.

After a few failed attempts to reach it, I tried another technique; I jumped, sure I got a few centimeters taller, but not enough.  
As I jumped, my fingertips barely touched the outlines of the pasta-box, but I still wasn´t able to put my hand on it. Damn.

I growled and turned around as I heard Mac try to hide a laugh without success.

"What's so funny, Taylor?" I muttered "I wasn't the one who placed it there"

"Let me help you" Mac offered still chuckling.

"No, no… I can do it" I insisted, and tried to jump again.

"No you can't" Mac grinned behind me. I felt his hard abdomen muscles against my back when he leaned closer to me to reach the pasta.  
I found it hard to control my breathing now, because I knew what was under that shirt – I've accidentally saw him shirtless in the locker a while ago.  
And that picture won't leave me, not that I mind, if I could, I would print it out from my brain and use it as wallpaper…

My heart began to pound faster, as the unique scent of him and his after shave filled my nostrils.

I was mesmerizes by the scent of Mac Taylor, I had to control my urgent need to touch him.

"Stella" Mac interrupted my daydreaming before it could get even more interesting, which I guess was for the best. "Hello? Anyone home?" He teased.

"Um.. Yeah, hi" I rambled.

"Here you go" Mac handed me the pasta.

"Thanks"

"Okay, we're going to make pasta and tomato sauce" Mac told me. "First we're going to start to boil some water for the pasta"

I nodded, so far so good.

I took out a kettle from one of the kitchen cupboards, and filled it with water.

"Wow, we're making progress here" Mac teased and received a light punch on his upper arm.

"Oww" He whined and smirked at me.

"You're supposed to teach me how to cook, not mock me" I snorted.

"Okay, okay" Mac laughed with his hands raised in defeat. "You can go ahead and slice the tomatoes"

"The tomatoes in the _fridge"_ I said empathizing the last word, and saw how Mac tried his best to hide his discomfort.

"Yeah those" He said and turned away from me, pretending to check on the water.

I smiled and started to slice the tomatoes, still a little bit distracted of Mac's presence, and my innocent thoughts about touching him.

"Ow!" I had cut my finger with the knife while I was fantasizing about Mac's abs…

Mac turned around when he heard me wince.

"Stella, what are you doing?"

"I cut my finger" I mumbled somewhat embarrassed.

"Let me see" Mac took my hand and made a close examination of the wound.  
I had to take deep controlled breaths and think about something else, Mac Taylor was _not_ holding my hand…

I started to count the dots on the dishtowel. _One… Two… Three… Mac was not holding my hand…_

"We have to clean this up a little bit" Mac reached out for a tissue, and began carefully to remove the blood from my finger.  
_  
Four…Five…Six… Breathe in, breathe out.  
_  
"I'll just put this plaster on" He said and put it on my finger.

"Thank you" I mouthed to him, I didn't trust my voice at this moment.

"I was thinking about letting you slice the onion now, but if you don't can handle the knife… I have to reconsider now..." Mac chuckled.

"Hey" I muttered. "I can"

"Well you just showed me the total opposite" He teased.

"Maaaaac" I whined. "Give me the onion"

"Okay" He replied and threw the onion to me. "But I'm not responsible for any possible damages"

"I won't cut my finger again" I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Mature Stell" He laughed. "Very mature"

I glared at him, and began to slice the onion in thin pieces.

After a while I felt tears streaming down my face, I was crying due to the onion slicing.

I tried the best I could to hide my tears, but Mac noticed them anyhow.

All my makeup was washed away, and I cried black tears.

"When the knife slices through the onion, it tears apart the cells, which releases the cells' content" Mac started, and brought up his hand to wipe away my tears.  
I tensed when his hand met my face; I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "This, combined with the oxygen in the air produces a sulphur-based gas."

I inhaled a shaky breath, and just felt his hands caress my face.  
My body grew tense under his touch. I forbid myself to relax against him, that would´ve only lead to me sinking into his arms. I´m sure that would´ve shocked him.

"When this gas hits the water coating in your eyes, it becomes sulphuric acid which irritates your eyes"

I stopped to cut the onions and just listened to him. In any other situation I would´ve stopped his rambling about onions, telling him, I know that quite well too, thank you very much  
for that needless information.

But right now I just wanted to feel his gentle hands on my face and to listen to his soothing voice... I didn´t really care about his words.  
He could´ve quoted the telephone directory and I would´ve still adored every word…

"So your eyes try to get rid of the sulphuric acid, and start to create tears"

Mac rested his hands on my shoulders. "That's why you're crying" He declared.

"Mac" I whispered. This was the perfect time to tell him how I felt, I tried to convince me. _I love you Mac. _I swallowed. And took a deep breath. I need courage, give me strength – What  
if I spoil a lifetime of close friendship?

"Yes" He said, simply.

"I… I…" I rambled.

"Mhm" He said squeezing my shoulders tighter.

"I… I… need to go and wash my hands…" I whispered and ran off to the bathroom.

___________________________________________________  
I know I'm evil stop writing like this xD! HAHA! But I can't help it xO!

**And all I want for Christmas is reviews ! Please grant my wish !  
**_Thanks for reading! /Maja_


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi! I was thinking about finsihing this story by Christmas, like a nice Christmas-gift for all of you, but now, with like three days left, well... Let me say, I'll do my best.  
But if I don't make it, take it as a delayed Christmas-gift then :P  
This chapter has SuallenParken helpt me with, A LOT!  
I know this chapter is short! Don't hate me!  
______________________________________________________________________________________________**

**Mac's POV**

I continued to slice the onion when Stella had ran off. I guess everyone isn't made for cooking.  
I slightly cursed myself that I'd just had rambled some uninteresting things about onions and sulphur dioxide when she cried.  
But watching her cry totally caught me off guard.  
I only saw her crying on rare occasions and it always had the same effect on me. Made me stupid, erases every useful sentence out of my mind.  
That´s why I remain silent most times, when she cries...  
She looked so vulnerable, with the tears streaming down her face, and all I could do was explaining to her why she cried. Shit. Should've gone for the silence once more...

"Mac" I turned around to see Stella, she'd cleaned up a bit but there was still some small verges that remained.  
"I'm so sorry," She smiled shyly. "I know you were just trying to help and well… I'm not that good, I just…"  
I frowned slightly. She seemed... weird to me, as if her crying hadn't been only bout the onions.  
She sounded so melancholic. I don´t think that this here is only about her cooking skills; there must be something different, something else...  
"Shhh…." I captured her in my arms and I heard how she gasped. "Even though you said you were the one who does the rambling thing, you don't have too" I smirked, trying to lighten up the mood.  
I moistened my thumb with water from the tap and began to carefully wash away the black marks on her face.  
She closed her eyes, leaned against my touch, and sighed contently.  
I hugged her tighter and felt her relaxing in my arms; it felt so right, I hope she felt the same way too.  
"Mac..." She murmured suddenly against my collar. "Is this just an act for you?"  
"What?" I asked her, a bit startled. Her nearness distracted me. Confused my mind like the tears had done earlier.  
"This here.", she explained quietly, looking in my eyes again. "This mission." Her eyes distracted me; she talks with her eyes as much with her mouth. She licked her lips briefly to moisten them, which caught my attention and got me starring at her beautiful mouth.

'I want to kiss you.', I thought, but refused to say it out loud. Doesn´t seem like a good answer to her question, huh? Or like an answer to her question at all. The problem was; that this was the only sentence my mind came up with, so I remained silent, just looked at her and waited for her next words.

"Mac?" Her gaze tried to catch mine again. "Is living with me just pretense for you?"

Oh damn. She really wants an answer. What should I tell her? The truth? Like I want to be married with you, like really married with all consequences that such a marriage would bring? That I just caught myself thinking about a good name for our first child, during that damn diner with Henric and Linda, because I somehow forgot that I´m supposed to just pretend to be your husband for some glorious moments?  
I don´t think so, no - The truth would only scare you off and would ruin our friendship.  
So I settled for something less dangerous than admitting my love for her but which was close enough to truth that she might buy it: "You´re comfortable to be around..." I started hesitatingly. "It´s easy for me to... to behave like your husband..."

Her eyes went wide as she listened to my words. God, I was talking such bullshit here. Damn, I should´ve stayed silent and just let her tear my head off; because she thinks I won´t let myself connect to my emotions. I nibbled at my bottom lip.

"We´re good friends..." , I added lamely and immediately wished I could take my words back. Because as soon as they left my mouth I felt Stella grew tense in my embrace. Her face went blank, lacked of any emotions.

"I always knew, we would make good roommates." She said before she took a few steps back. Away from me.  
"Excuse me, I need some fresh air..." Her voice was totally in control. Slowly she turned around on her heels and headed towards the door.  
"We´ll continue cooking tomorrow...", she uttered nearly soundless before she grabbed her jacket and opened the front door and left me alone.

As the door closed behind her I just starred at it for a few moments, unable to think straight, let alone move...  
_What the hell had just happened?_

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**Lalalalala! Am I still evil? Please review (: I want to know if you enjoyed my story so far!  
/Maja**


	19. Chapter 19

**suallenparker´s note: Hi there! This was a little interlude which I was allowed to write all on my own (the dream-sequence)! I begged and whined till Maja finally gave me the permission to write this little scene So a big THANK YOU here for Maja for that!... I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Merry christmas everybody!**

**PS: christmas is love and so is feedback ^-^**

**And now to my note! HAHAHA This chapter has SuallenParker written like 75% HAHAHAHA but I like it! And we're like working 24/7 to get this finnished by christmas! I hope we can make it!**

Stella's POV

I walked out through the front door and slammed the door behind me; leaving a confused and dumbfounded Mac behind me.  
I tried to tell him what I feel, but he clearly shows that I'm just his _friend_.  
He feels comfortable around me, so he finds it easy to pretend to be my husband just because of that. Bla bla bla...  
I tried to open up to him, tell him what I feel; but instead I was dashed in my face with the famous "We're just friends" sentence.  
How can someone as bright as him, solve every case he's given, and at the same time be so freakin' dense?  
I almost poured my heart out in front of the man I love, and he doesn't make a reaction, not an expression.  
I know I made a huge mistake by agreeing on being a part of this undercover operation.  
Now I lived with the man I dream about, but it was not real. He's feelings for me was just an act to convince the others. Damn, he was good. He convinced me too.  
I took a deep breath and tried to calm down again, but my pounding heart made it impossible.  
I know I kind of overreacted, running out like that.  
But I had no choice, it was either begging for his love or getting angry at him and leaving before my dignity would burst into nothing and I would break down in front for the begging part...

When I'd walked out I hadn't even bothered to think about which jacket I chose, I just wanted get the hell out of there.  
Of course I happened to take my jacket which was made for warm and sunny days.  
After a while I started to freeze, but the lights were still on in our hose, which meant that Mac was still up, and I didn't want to face him at this moment.  
Now feeling ashamed for my own stupid behavior. I was sure he would be full of questions about the reason I left in such a hurry... I really couldn´t deal with that right now.  
So I turned around, deciding to take walk around the block for a while until I felt sure enough again to speak to Mac... Or until Mac went to bed and I wouldn´t need to face him again on this evening at all, whichever would be quicker.

I just crossed the street to Linda´s and Henric´s house as I saw Linda who just came out her front door, carrying a garbage bag. She just took one look at me to recognize something was wrong. Frowning, she threw the bag into the garbage can and came over to me. "What´s up, dear?" she asked tenderly.

Suddenly I felt bad. Not just because of Mac but also because the woman in front of me was so nice and friendly, treading me like a friend and all I had done so far was telling her lies... The whole evening had been too much for me and I felt some tears filling my eyes. I wasn´t able to answer her without risking to cry so I just shrugged my shoulders slightly.

"Oh dear." Linda said emphatically and placed one warm hand on my shoulder. "Did you and Mac fight again?"

I just nodded.

She rubbed her hand up and down my arm to sooth me. "Wanna come in?"

"Thank you so much" I said when she put a cup of hot tea in my hands.  
"Wanna tell me, what's wrong?" Linda asked.  
"We had another fight, Mac and I" I explained. "And I ran away"  
"Oh, you poor thing." She cooed.  
"I don't know what happened." I sighed. "I guess I made a big mistake when I said I do"  
"Don't be ridiculous" Linda sternly said. "Every married couple has problems, but solving them together, that's when you grow even closer. It's when you stop to solve them together, that's when the real problems occur."  
"You might be right" I looked away and blinked away some tears that threaten to fall.  
"I can show you the guest room if you want" Linda offered kindly. "So you get some time to clear your mind. But tomorrow you're going to talk to Mac; you two really need to work this out."  
"Promise" I muttered. What was I supposed to say to her? And to Mac to make it all right between us again?

After Linda showed me her guest room I tried to relax as good as I could... Linda had lend me one of her nighties so I didn´t need to sleep in my clothes but even if her guest bed was really comfortable to lay on I doubted that I would be able to find some sleep this night. To full was my head with thoughts and memories from the day...  
Over and over again the scene in our kitchen repeated itself in my head refusing to let me rest and filling my mind with Macs face...

The noise of the opening door woke me from my slight slumber. I blinked against the yellow light that shined from the floor into Linda´s guest room in which I had put myself to sleep after that stupid conversation with Mac...

Mac... My heart ached by the thought of his decent kind words. _'We´re friends'_, he had said. Yes, we were... Good friends even. The best of them. Such a shame, that I felt so much more for him... To distract me from my sadness I raised my head up from my pillow and gazed at the door, trying to make out, who stood in the doorframe. After a few moments my eyes adjusted to the light and I was able to detect the silhouette of a firm male body through the back light.

Mac. In a flash I sat up. It was Mac who silently stood in the door. I would recognize his silhouette everywhere. What was he doing here? How did he find me so quickly?

His raspy sounding voice interrupted my thoughts. "Sorry...", he mumbled quietly.

I arched a brow in question, but I guess he wasn´t able to notice my gesture in the dark. I switched on the little lamp that stood next to me on the night stand. I wanted to see his face too.

As the room lightened up Mac flinched slightly before he finally continued speaking: "Sorry I woke you..." he whispered and hung his head, avoiding my gaze. "I´m sorry for earlier also..."

My face grew soft as I saw him standing there looking like a lost boy and apologizing for something I´m sure he don´t even understood. My heart ached once more with all the love I felt for that sweet generous man in front of me. "You don´t have to apologize..." I answered gently. "You did nothing wrong... I just needed some space...", I tried to explain my own behavior, smiling at him hesitantly.

His own smile was oh so cute as he came slowly over to my bed and sat down on it right next to me. "So you´re not mad at me?" he asked, still worried.

"Of course not." I assured him. He looked so sweet that I couldn´t resist the urge to touch him so I ran my fingers through his short brown hair tenderly. His smile even deepened.

For a few moments we just looked each other in the eye, absolutely satisfied with the feeling of being so close...

And then – I don´t know what triggered it, maybe that I licked my bottom lip to moisten it, or maybe my hand that wandered from his hair to the warm skin on his neck. - he finally. Finally! Bent forward and kissed me.

I closed my eyes and sighed as I wrapped both my arms around his neck and eagerly responded to his kiss. His lips were so soft and he tasted of cotton...

Cotton? No…? What..?

I opened my eyes again just to face a pillow in the dark of Linda´s guest room.

Damn. It was all just a dream.

Cursing I let go the pillow I had embraced so tightly as I thought it had been Mac and sat up. Damn Mac... First he played with my heart and now he screws with my subconscious...

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**Oh, you can't possible call me evil now...? I gave you a kiss, and I want you to give me some nice reviews now!  
/Maja&Sarah**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hihihi! Here we are again! This chapter have I written almos all by myself *proud* Sarah's jsut been correcting my language xD !  
Hope you like! ^^ Take note! This ch. is written from Stella's POV!  
**

* * *

Stella's POV

I woke up, and blinked a few times to adjust them to the sharp daylight, I'd been so tired and exhausted last night so I hadn't even bothered to use the blinds.  
Oh, god, that dream I had last night was still clinging on me, refused to let go of me.  
It had felt so real, I could have sworn it was him in my room, but no, it was just a silly dream that never will come true.  
I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.  
I wonder if Mac even noticed I was gone…?

Linda must have noticed that I was awake, and entered the room carefully.  
"Good morning" She said. "Had a good night's sleep?"  
"Yeah, thank you so much" I nodded. "I'm very grateful that you let me sleep here last night, jeez I don't even thought straight, I must've been a mess when you picked me up…" I mumbled a little bit embarrassed.  
"No, no" Linda smiled. "You didn't look like a mess; you just looked like you needed someone."  
I smiled, Linda was a sweet person, and it was a shame that she'd fallen in love with the main suspect of this case.  
She didn't deserve it; she deserved someone much better than him, even though he acted like a whole new person when he was at home.

Mac and I had watched some pictures and read lots of reports about him before we came here, and I could tell you one thing; they weren't pleasant.  
I knew he easily could kill Linda as a bug, she was in danger, and all I could think about was my own love life, or the lack of my own love life, might sound more appropriate…?  
"Stella, I have to go to the market, I run out of some ingredients, I'll make my special beef stew tonight, John loves it" She smiled. "So I need to go now, but I have already prepared the breakfast down stairs, so you can eat if you want, or leave, and talk to Mac maybe?" She winked at me when she said the last sentence.  
"I think I will grab a cup of coffee, then head back home"  
"Ok... See you later" She nodded her head. "And you know you can call me whenever you want to talk, or you can just come over."  
"Thanks" I replied, blushing slightly. "I'll keep that in mind."  
"And oh, John has already left for work, but he asked me to say hello to you" With that said, she left the room.  
As soon as Linda was gone, I leaned back towards the pillow and closed my eyes.  
Shit! How could I have gotten myself in such trouble; I guess Mac wants to hear an explanation why I ran away last night. What should I say?  
_'Mac, I don't know for how much longer I can ignore my feelings for you, they've grown stronger over the years, and now I'm finally at the breaking point, I can't take it anymore'_  
No, absolutely not, this sentence can destroy a lifetime of close friendship, that's not worth to risk just because I thought for a second he felt the same heat as I did.  
I threw my head back on the pillows and released a frustrated moan.  
How was I supposed to cooperate with this?  
After I had taken a swim in my own self pity, I rose from the bed in pursuit on coffee.

Linda had left the coffee maker on in the kitchen so I grabbed a mug and drank greedily of the hot liquid.  
When I'd drunk up the coffee, I turned towards the sink and began to wash up the mug I just used.  
"Hello there Stella" I heard a raspy voice behind me. I spun quickly around and saw John leaned against the doorframe with a cocky grin glued onto his face. "Or should I say 'Hello detective Bonasera'?"  
I become astonished to see him here, and even more as he called me Bonasera.  
He knew who I was; I gasped and grabbed the kitchen counter to steady myself.  
"I must say that there's an honor to have such bright detectives after me" He smirked at me, and came closer. "Detective Mac Taylor and detective Stella Bonasera"  
I tried to stay calm, and tried to go more backwards.  
"You know" He had moved more closely to me, I began to feel more threatened by his presence. Before I could react, I could feel his breath upon my neck. "I knew all along whom you were my detective. I just let you two play your little game. It was quite amusing... Really entertaining."  
He had laid his arm over my shoulder, and the last thing I could remember was that sharp antiseptic smell of Chloroform.

After that, it all got black for me.

* * *

**Huhuhuhuh, okay you are allowed to call me evil now xD! *laughs and does ugly dancemoves to an old S Club 7 song*  
Please review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay, I know we said that we would try to have this story finished by Christmas, but we didn't make it. I'm sorry. But I update this though today. I celebrate christmas the 24th, I know there's some of you who celebrates the 25th. But Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all get a wonderful time!**

* * *

**Mac's POV**

I wondered what'd gotten into Stella last night, she'd run off with no understandable reason.  
And on top of that, she hadn't returned home. After being up and waited until 3 am, I went to bed, thinking that she maybe would sneak in if she thought I was sleeping. But no luck there either.  
I sighed and took another sip of my coffee, and I stared out through the kitchen window in hope that I would see Stella somewhere.  
Where could she be now? Where could she have gone?  
And why did she run? Was it because of me? What had I done to hurt her?

I felt that I had a beginning to a small headache, I guess it was because the lack of sleep, and the lack of Stella.  
The last nights we've actually slept in the same bed. She'd insisted that I didn't have to sleep on the couch.  
"You have to take care of your back, the couch is pretty hard to sleep on" She'd said.  
"Are you trying to tell me that I'm old Stella?" I had teased her.  
She'd just snorted and threw a pillow on me.  
Well, honestly it hadn't been so much for sleep there either, but it had a soothing effect on me to hear someone else's breaths next to me. And I knew I could just turn my head and see her, the woman I dreamt of sharing a bed together with, for I don't know for how long.  
I could stay awake just to see her calm and beautiful face when she slept, and just to hear her breathing.  
It's funny how you get used to the good stuff in your life in such a short notice, and misses it immediately when it's gone.

It suddenly occurred to me that I could trace her cell phone through my laptop. If she'd brought it, which I hope she'd done.  
I typed her number which I could have dialed in my sleep, and waited for the computer to do the work.  
How annoyed I would become if she'd just left her phone at home for recharging, but luckily I got a match; and I froze when I saw where she was.  
She was at Linda and John's. I knew John were supposed to be at work this time a day, but you'll never know what he can do.

I grabbed my coat and headed towards Linda and John's house.  
The sun was shining and it was a wonderful day, but I knew in a blink it could turn into something completely different.  
I sighed and put my hands in my coat pocket. I made sure my gun that I brought couldn't be seen.  
It would be very embarrassing for me, if Linda and Stella just sat and talked, and I stormed in through the front door.  
I cleared my throat and knocked on the door. If Linda opened, I would ask her if she'd seen Stella, and if John opened, well… I ask him too.  
But I hadn't a third option about what I should do, when no one opened the door.  
I knew Stella was in there somewhere, or her cell was at least in there, it gave me many reasons why I should search the place.  
What if Stella was in danger? But on the other side, she could have gone somewhere with Linda, they seemed to get along pretty well.  
Better than I actually would like to, I mean, we're here to do our job, and she could easily be emotional involved with this case, and that's hard to cooperate with later.

After a few knocks on the door, still no one who opened, so I decided to open it by myself, like an uninvited guest.  
But hey! My wife was in there, somewhere!  
I was surprised to find the door unlocked, so I snuck in and closed the door behind me carefully.  
I searched the apartment for the two women, but no luck.  
They could have gone for a walk I guessed, but then I spotted Stella's high heels in the hallway, which can mean two things; one: she's still in the apartment, or two, the worst scenario: She'd been dragged to somewhere else, probably dozed or worse; or beaten down, or maybe even killed.  
But I also noticed John's shoes in the apartment, they looked like they'd been recently used, and careless lined up on the shoe shelf.  
Damn. My stomach clinched with fear and my whole body got tense, preparing itself for a possible fight.  
Taking a deep breath I tried to calm down. Freaking out wouldn´t help me now.  
So I continued to search the apartment, as the good detective that I am, ignoring that loud voce in my head that demanded I should hurry up, call the police, call the fire department, call someone, or at least shot someone, because Stella was in danger...  
But no more signs for Stella. The voice in my head started screaming.  
In the kitchen I spotted a napkin, I didn't need a second look or sniff to determine it's drenched in Chloroform.  
But the last thing that I noticed on the napkin was the small stains of women's lipstick, a little bit bleached, but still I recognized it as Stella's.  
She's the one who'd been dozed by Chloroform in this kitchen. I tried to control my heavy breathing.  
I continued my search, and spotted a door slightly ajar, I guess it was to the basement.  
"Huh?" A male voice said. "Why don't you tell me where your friend Mac Taylor is?"  
"I don't know" A female voce said, barely noticeable.  
I gasped when I recognized the voices, the female voice I didn't need a second thought about; it was Stella's no doubt. But it was a little bit harder for me to tell who's the male voice was, but it had to be John's.  
I crept down the stair to the basement with my gun in my right hand.

* * *

**Merry Christmas!  
I want reviews for Christmas! Please...?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello Everyone! Thank you for all the nice reviews. And for all of you who celebrates Christmas today, I would like to say Merry Christmas, hope you all gets a lot of presents!  
SuallenParker has corrected and written some stuff that she squeezed in somewhere here xD !  
**

* * *

Stella's POV

I opened my eyes slowly and felt very dizzy, the whole world was spinning around, it almost made me throw up.  
After a while, the speed slowed down a little and I could reflect over where I was.  
I gasped when I noticed that I couldn't move my legs or arms. I was tied down to a chair.  
My hands were tied together behind my back, and my legs were tied to the chair's legs.  
I felt my pulse rise when I struggled to free myself.  
"Oh, eager aren't we" I heard a raspy voice behind me.  
"Let me go" I demanded forcefully, trying to not to sound as scared as I was.  
"No, no Detective Bonasera" I saw Henric appear in front of me.  
I tried not to panic when he placed a hand over my mouth and bend down to my level and whispered in my ear "I know you and your partner wanted to see this" He rose and lit the lights.  
Now I saw where I was; In some sort of basement where John stored all of his drugs. I would say it was quite risky to have it in his apartment, but I guess no one had such thoughts about John, being a drug dealer I mean. He just pretended to be the perfect man with his wife.  
"Too bad you won't be able to tell Mac about this" He breathed upon my neck.  
"Please, let me go" I begged quietly, I couldn't no longer hide the fear in my voice. This situation reminded me a little bit too much of the Frankie incident.  
"Oh darling" Henric smiled in fake pity. "I can't let you go now, now that you know my little secret, I´m sorry."  
I shivered when he touched my bare shoulders, I hadn't changed from the nightie I'd borrowed from Linda.  
"So where's your friend Detective Taylor?" Ha asked in a sultry voice as he began to caress the inner of my thighs, I wanted to stop him, remove his hands from touching me and break his arms or at least dislocate them, but the damn straps held my hands tight together. "I would like to meet him again" he whispered in my ear softly.  
"No!" I growled and tried to squirm away from his touch but keeping my face straight to deny him the joy to see my fear. "Why do you want to see him?"  
"I want him to see me do the things to you, he never have done, or will do" John stroked my cheek with his rough, scarred hands.  
I shook my head, and bit my bottom lip to concentrate on that kind of pain instead of his hands roaming my back and shoulders at the moment.  
"Answer me Stella, where is Mac Taylor?" I closed my eyes and winced at his words. I won't tell him anything about Mac, I'll protect him with my life, as he would protect mine.  
"I'm asking you a second time, Miss Bonasera" Henric said, and I heard how he tried to suppress a laugh. "If you don't answer me now, it'll be very unpleasant for you"  
"Why would I want to tell you something?" I snorted and tried to blink away tears of fear.  
Without saying a word, Henric lifted his hand and slapped me over my face, a burning pain appeared on my left cheek, and I gasped for air. That was definitely nothing I could see coming. "Because I said so" His voice finally gave away the hidden anger he felt.  
"So where is your friend Mac Taylor?" He tried again in place with his fingertips under my chin; to force me to look him in the eyes.  
"I don't know" I felt so threatened and scared about this situation, my heart raced in its maximum speed and I felt how my tears fell down my cheeks. I nearly threw myself over as I saw the satisfied smile on Henric´s face as he noticed my tears. I grew angry at myself for my betraying body who gave away my fear.  
"Tell me!" He shouted and slapped my face once more. Only this time harder, I began to bleed from my nose. The blood ran down my face, and started to soak my nightie slowly. I was sure it looked so much worse than it actually was.  
"No." I answered through gritted teeth, my own rage sparkling in my eyes now. Damn this man, I thought. Damn him for hurting me and damn him for using me to get to Mac.  
Damn him.

He hit me again. "Tell me, slut!"

"Screw you." I hissed.

He laughed evilly. My heart skipped a beat by that wrong sound of his giggling.  
Smirking brightly he looked down at me. "Well..." he mumbled. "That could be fun.." he bent down again, grabbed my face with both hands and kissed me roughly. "But before I have my way with you, there are a few things which come first..." he breathed against my lips and I flinched, shutting my eyes tightly and biting down my bottom lip again to prevent me from begging for mercy.

Then, suddenly he was gone. As I couldn´t feel his presence any longer I opened my eyes to observe him. He had went to a closet on the other wall of the basement an opened it. My heart sunk as I saw that the closet was full of every kind of knives... He starred at them as if he couldn´t decide which he want to use first...  
The whole basement was now filled with my fearful silence; the only noises were my heavy breathing and some quiet, barely audible footsteps at the stairs.

Footsteps?

I gazed at the stairs in new awaken hope and saw Mac, holding his gun in his right hand and his left hand placed before his mouth, gesturing me to stay silent. I saw his face grew pale as he noticed the blood on my face. I nodded briefly to assure him, that I understood him and that I was ok as I watched him enter the basement totally and pointing his gun at Henric who was still lost in the view of his knifes.

"Hands up, Henric!" Mac shouted sternly and my heart filled itself with satisfied glee as Henric flinched under Mac´s strong voice. "Turn around slowly!"

* * *

**I'm not evil! *laughs and sings together with Rachel in an old S Club 7 song*  
**_Don't stop, never give up  
Hold your head high and reach the top  
Let the world see what you have got  
na na na na ...  
_**Hahahaha xD I was S Club 7's biggest fan when I was younger!  
*tries to learn the ugly dancemoves and watch the video on youtube 10 times a day xD***


	23. Chapter 23

**Hola. I've invited SuallenParker to co-write with me the next coming chapters, so don't be surprised if they are better than the others xD  
But I'm very grateful that she wants to do this with me. And I enjoy having someone to discuss the ideas with.**

**

* * *

**

Mac's POV

Before I walked down the stairs, I had already called for backup, it was something I supposed I would need now.  
I snuck down the stairs to see Stella tied town to a chair, scared and tears were streaming down her cheeks. There was a lot of blood on her too, her nightie was stained with blood and her face had trails of blood.  
"Tell me, slut!" Henric yelled at Stella.  
"Screw you!" She hissed.  
"That could be fun" Henric answered and grabbed her face and kissed her roughly on her lips.  
I felt how my blood started to boil, no one does this to my wife. But I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of him, he'd kissed Stella. Something I´ll probably never get the chance to do ...  
"But before I have my way with you, there are a few things which come first..." He whispered against Stella's soft lips.  
Henric turned around and headed towards to a closet on the other wall on the basement, and opened it. I couldn't see what's inside, but apparently Stella did, and she squeezed her eyes shut to not see what's coming.  
Then I decided to make a move. Yet was the best time to take the risk, he wasn´t in Stella´s reach, so he couldn´t hurt her more, when he would saw me or use her as a kind of a defense-shield... Although I tried to be quiet as I went down the last steps Stella turned her head and starred at me, with relief in her eyes as she recognized me.  
Then when I came closer I saw all the blood, her face was covered in what I assumed was nosebleed. I asked her with my eyes if she was okay, and she nodded.  
I signaled to her, to keep quiet and she nodded again.

"Hands up, Henric!" I shouted and watched him flinch at my words with satisfaction. "Turn around slowly"  
In a flash he spun around on his heels, facing me, his eyes shining with range and holding a big sharp-looking knife in his right hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he tried to glance at Stella, obviously calculating over how many seconds it would take for him to reach Stella, and how fast I could pull the trigger.  
"Don't even think about it!" I ordered sternly. The loud pounder of my heart echoed in my ears. "I would've shot you before you would even be close enough to touch her"  
"You think so, my Detective?" Henric took one step closer to Stella, who was looking at both of us with fear.  
"You think I'm kidding?" I snorted, arching a brow cooly but my heart was like a speeding train.  
Stella was bleeding, for God's sake! All because of him. He deserved to die.  
I pulled the trigger and as the sharp ear-ringing sound of the bullet, left my gun and hit the ground close to his left feet, which made him shriek which filled me once more with satisfaction. I only gave him a warning shot, not to hurt him.

When the backup force heard my shot they came running into the basement immediately to arrest him.  
"Mac" I heard Stella whisper. "Mac…?"  
"Yeah…" I said, watching the officers taking Henric with them.  
"Please untie me now" Her eyes were still wide with shock.  
"Of course" I mumbled and freed her with shaky hands. I noticed how she shivered. "Are you cold?"  
"I don't know" She replied. I took off my jacket and covered her up. "Thanks"  
She looked at me with such gratefulness, it nearly broke my heart. Blood was still running out of her nose in small sprinkles and I wanted to do was wipe it away, to kiss it good again, and make everything all right again. I fisted my hands behind my back to prevent me from doing so, reminding myself once again, that Stella wasn´t my real wife that she just had pretended to be mine... That I was only a friend to her... I nodded at her and wanted to say something rather stupid, before a young officer, who asked Stella of her well-being, saved me from embarrassing myself in front of her by rambling random things again. I left as she spoke to the officer to clear my mind. I needed to think before I would be able to face her again.

* * *

**Liked it? Please review! *puppy eyes***


	24. Chapter 24

**The end is near!!! LOL! This chapter has been corrected and read through by SuallenParker as always.  
Thanks for all the nice reviews, I'm kinda surprised that it is somebody out there that likes my story :O  
**

* * *

Stella's POV

I rushed to the toilet in the hallway and locked the door.  
My breathing came in small pants, and I looked at myself in the mirror.  
Blood was still running slowly from my nose, and small bruises began to appear where Henric had hit me.  
I sighed, bit my bottom lip and tried to calm my breathing down.  
What if Mac hadn't found me? I inhaled a shaky breath, the shock of the near death experience flooded over me.  
What if Henric would have a gun instead of a knife?  
What if Henric would have used another acid to knock me out?  
Something more poisonous?  
What if…? Shit! I really have to stop thinking like this now, I'm alright and alive. Just breathe. Inhale, exhale.  
My hands shook when I tried to clean up all that blood on my face and I pulled Mac's jacket closer around my body, to hide all the blood on the nightie.  
I sighed and shook my head, I wasn't invincible; I need Mac.  
I have known it all along, but today I tried to convince myself the opposite, that I can live without help from Mac Taylor, but apparently not…  
I cursed myself over the fact that I had gotten myself in such trouble, I had let it go too far, and I needed to be rescued from the mess I've caused.  
I know I should have called for some backup, but I thought I could handle it.  
I thought so with Frankie too, until the only way out was to shoot him.  
I shot a glance in the mirror, I still looked horrible even after my weak attempt to clean myself up.  
My eyes were red and puffy because all the crying, my curls seemed more untamed than usual and when I tried to sooth the bruises, they only got worse.

On legs that felt like they were made of rubber, I exited the toilet and searched for anyone but Mac.  
He'd run off so quickly from the crime scene, so it made me wonder if he didn't want to talk to me right now.  
I guess he considers me stupid going here by my own, and to be honest, I think he's right. But no, I won't admit that, not that I´m ever gonna admit it.  
Especially not to him. I know I'm stubborn, but I can't help it.  
Then I spotted Linda on the porch watching in confusion and fear when the two of the police officers took Henric away.  
I cleared my throat for finally tell the truth to Linda, God I've lied so much to this woman, it's about time I'll make up for it.  
I guess it's for the best if she hears this from me and not from some random officer.

"Linda!" I called and watched as she turned around and began to walk closer to me.  
When she saw the blood on my nightie that I so carefully tried to remove, she frowned.  
"Stella! Oh, my God, what happened? Why are they taking John? Is that blood? Why all those police men?" She was upset and talked pretty fast; I barely got the whole sentences just some of the words.  
"Linda, calm down" I led her towards the kitchen to sit down to sit down and talk. "I guess I owe you an explanation now"  
When we entered the kitchen, the young officer who had asked me about my well being in the basement was starting the coffee.  
"You can cook your coffee later" I snorted to him. I felt it was in my right to be a little bit annoyed at him, because Mac was about to open his mouth to say something, and then the young officer came in.  
So yes, it was only my right.  
"Yes Detective" He nodded and left the kitchen.  
"Why did he call you 'Detective'?" Linda asked in confusion.  
"Sit down please" I made a gesture to the chair opposite to me. "And well, he called me that because I am a Detective"  
"What?!" Linda gasped. "But I don't understand."  
"Let's take it all from the beginning" I noticed that my hands were still shaking. "Mac and I aren't married" Unfortunately, I added in my mind.  
"So?" Linda blinked.  
"This was just an act to blend in to the neighborhood" I tried to explain. "We were here in an undercover operation"  
"It doesn't make any sense to me" I saw how she grew more and more confused for every word that left my mouth.  
"Your husband John's real name is Henric Maars" I tried another way to tell her. "He's one of the biggest drug dealers in this part of the town."  
She nodded quietly, begging me with her eyes to continue.

Poor Linda, I thought when I left the house. Her life had been torn down in a matter of just a few seconds. I sighed and shook my head, we've exchanged numbers. If she needed to talk to somebody, well I'm not so good at the talking thing, but I'm a pretty good listener.

* * *

**And if I'm not getting enough reviews... I might not upload *evil laugh and does an ugly dance***

So please review :D :D


	25. Chapter 25

****

**suallenparker´s note: I know, I know... rather short, but the next one will be longer, I promise! This was just the warm-up ^-^  
MrAprilfoolsWatanuki's note: HEHE, this and the next coming chapter, I haven't written much of at all. I just gave Sarah some small hints about what I wanted to happen xD  
But I like her version and... Well here we go. Mac's POV last chapter!  
**

Mac's POV

* * *

Our mission here was complete, so we both could go back to our normal life again...  
But I quietly wondered how that would be; I'd gotten used to have Stella around in my home, and Offe. Yeah, Offe. I had agreed on taking care of her, since Stella can't have her in my apartment.  
And I can't say no, Offe would be a perfect excuse for me to see Stella when we're not working. We can go for walks together and stuff like that. I know she can't stay away from Offe for a long time.

My heart was still pounding fast as I went to the house which had been mine and Stella´s home for the last few weeks to pack my stuff.

Grabbing some clothes out of the closet in the bedroom as I tried to calm myself down, tried to erase the awful pictures from my mind...  
Stella bleeding and bound to that damn chair in that damn basement.

Damn. Damn. Damn. Forcefully I shoved the clothes in my bag, uttering silent curses, while my mind lost itself in 'what if'-s and 'if not'-s, again.

_What if_ I hadn´t searched for her?- She´d might be dead.

_What if_ she hadn´t take her cell with her?- She´d might be dead.

_What if_ I had been too late? _What if_ Henric hadn´t stood so far away from her?  
_What if_ he would´ve had a gun instead of a knife? - She´d might be dead now.

Damn it all. I could´ve lost her! My fingers started shaking by that thought.

Then rage came up again.  
This time not because of Henric who tried to hurt her so badly but because she brought herself in such unbearable situation.

What had she been thinking?

Why didn´t she just came home that damn night?

Why the hell did she have to stay in that damn house?

How dared she doing this to me?

Scaring the hell out of me.  
Christ, I nearly aged ten years in those moments before I knew she was safe again...

And all this because Miss Bonasera had been too proud or too stubborn to ask for my help...

God, maybe she was angry with me for some stupid reasons I still not get...

But if she didn´t want my help, then why didn´t the call Flack, Danny or Lindsay to give her some backup? So that at least someone had known where she had been?  
So that at least someone had known where to look for her, if she hadn´t shown up?  
What if I hadn´t been able to trace her cell?  
What if-

I took a deep breath. I was thinking in circles.

I flinched as I heard someone coming up the stairs to the bedroom.

Stella.

I knew it was her. I recognized the way she walked by the sound of her swinging steps.  
Thousands of people could have walked by, and I still would have recognized hers.

Growling slightly I went to the closet again, looking for some more of my clothes...  
Well, at least I pretended to seem like that...

Honestly I just didn´t want to face her right now, knowing I would do one of rather stupid things.  
Either I would start yelling at her for scaring me so much or I would grab her and hold her tight untill my racing heart would´ve assured itself that she was save now, here in my arms...

Both of the two options would be totally inappropriate, I guess.

* * *

**Please review :D It makes me happy! I'm going to train my horse now, and when I come back, I want my inbox full of reviews (:  
Thanks for reading!  
/Maja**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hi everyone! It all comes down to this... The last chapter! Hope you like! Well.. I haven't written much of this either haha xD  
**

* * *

Stella´s POV

Offe greeted me happily as I entered the house which had been mine and Offe´s home for the last few weeks.  
Well, mine, Offe´s and Mac´s home.

I bit my bottom lip. Mac... He'd barely looked at me after he saved me from Henric...

Agitated Offe jumped up and down my leg to get my attention, her tail wagging like crazy. I couldn´t help but smile at her, before I bent down to her and lifted her up in my arms. With her licking my face, I went upstairs; chuckling slightly because her wet tongue in my face tickled.

I let Offe down and entered the bedroom, she followed me, her tail still wagging briefly then starting to fast up again as she saw Mac standing in front our closet.

I frowned. Mac was obviously packing his stuff...

Was he in such a hurry to get away from me?

I couldn´t even stand the thought of waking up without him by my side from now on... to be honest I suppressed every thought of a life after our fake-marriage until I saw him standing there, packing his stuff in this stupid bag.

I know, I know... Silly me... But after Mac saved me I had been too busy, well better say I kept myself busy, so I didn´t had the time to think over... Mac.

Quietly I cleared my throat, trying to swallow the huge chunk of... of what exactly?

Sadness? Offense? Desperation?

I snorted at my own sense for drama and cleared my throat again.  
"Hey Mac." I said, trying to sound all peachy. He uttered something I couldn´t understand before he turned around, some of his shirts in his hands, and faced me.  
His face lacked of any emotions, controlled as always.

Damn him, how could he be so unaffected by all what just happened?  
By all what was going to happen now?

He didn´t seem the slightest bothered by the thought of parting from me, our life we shared together for the last weeks, while I was rather upset even by the thought of not seeing him every morning from now on...

"You´re packing?" I asked stupidly just to get him to talk to me. I wanted to hear his voice. I wanted him to speak to me.  
Most of the times his voice gave away his emotional state even if his face wasn´t. After the years I had known him, I had learned how to read in the sentences he used, the way he empathized some words, the way the tune of his voice changed subtly... I hoped to find the sadness I was missing in his face

"What were you thinking?" he answered my question with another.

"Excuse me?" I was startled. His voice sounded weird... It was full of emotion, as I had hoped for but I couldn´t classify them... There were too many.  
"Even a greenhorn knows not to enter a dangerous house without even alarming the back up." He growled and now the anger in his voice was clear.

"What?" I arched a brow.

"How could you be so stupid, Stella?" The shirts he had been holding till now fell on the bed without further notice as he shot me a glare.

"Stupid?" I repeated slowly, my voice dangerously low.

"Yes, stupid." he explained. "Going there without telling anyone where you went was stupid, Stella. He could´ve killed you!"

Anger blossomed in my insides. How dared he to speak to me like that, treating me like a child.  
"I would´ve never let it come to-" I tried to defend my actions.

"He had you helplessly tied to that damn chair, there was nothing you could´ve done to save yourself." he cut me down rudely, his voice now shaking with emotion. "If it wasn´t for me, you would be dead by now, Stella."

While talking to me he stepped closer till we stood face to face.

The expression in his voice changed from anger to something quieter.

Also did his face, which had kept his cool till this very moment. Now he looked almost vulnerable, maybe even wounded.

"You would be dead." he empathized, placing both his hands on my shoulders.

My rage died as I stared into his blue eyes and my own features softened.

First now it occurred to me how frightened he must´ve been as he found me tied to that chair and bleeding from my nose.  
I remembered how pale he got as he spotted me in the basement...

"You would be dead..." Mac repeated again, this time barely audible.

Slowly I brought my right hand up to his face, cupping his cheek tenderly.

"But I´m here, Mac." I said gently. "I´m alright. I´m alive."

Something inside him must´ve cracked beneath my quiet words. Or maybe he was suddenly inherited by aliens... Because there is no other good explanation for what happened next.

I barely ended my sentence, as his grip on my shoulders got stronger, pulling me towards him while he himself bent down to press his lips against mine.

My heart nearly stopped beating under the feeling of Mac´s strong soft _demanding_ lips on mine.

God, I imagined our first kiss quite often. A million times to be true, but i never would´ve guessed that it would be anything like this.

I never expected this urgency inside his kiss. I wasn´t prepared for the desperation, when his mouth sought mine...

Somehow I always assumed that it would be me who would make the first move.

That I would lose it somehow during one of our more tender moments... That I wouldn´t be able to hold on to me much longer and would kiss him right on the lips instead of a hasted peck on his cheek as I settle for normally...

Not that I´m complaining, no, don´t get me wrong.

I loved it. I loved the whole way he kissed me right now. His strong arms wrapped around my back so tidily. His gorgeous lips on mine kissing me with such desire.  
Kissing me like he would never get enough of me. I kissed him back in equal passion. My hands clenched to fists, grabbing his shirt to hold him close to me.

We only broke apart as the need for air grew too strong.

Breathing hard, I leaned my forehand against his.

"Don´t ever do this do me again, Stell." he panted against my lips before he started to place tiny kisses everywhere on my face.

"Okay…" I murmured and snuggled into his embrace, letting my hands wander from his broad chest to his shoulders around his neck, lifting my chin to seek his mouth for a second kiss.

* * *

**Suallenparker´s note: Wow, a kiss-scene from me again, but this time it´s not a dream. HA! Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it. I wanna write some own Smacked-stories soon (now, that Maja showed me how to do it right ;-P) I hope, I see ya there too. Till then, lot´s of greetings, thanks for all your reviews and see ya latest in Maja´s sequel she already planned for this piece of gold.**

MrAprilfoolsWatanuki'snote: LOL I don't think Sarah has learned anything from me, nothing useful however HAHA xD  
I want to thank you all for reading this story!  
Anyway.. I'm thinking about doing a sequel to this... BUT I would love to write something else also, so if you have any ideas about something, you can send them to me.. and see what I can do.. 

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY!  
Thanks for everything! /Maja**


End file.
